Norainu 野良犬
by R3dWr1t1ngH00d
Summary: Norainu (n.) - Stray dog GinozaXOC, Kogamori, Kuranizuka Set post Psycho Pass 2, pre Psycho Pass movie - AU to the movie, as canon as possible based on the series.
1. Bailed Out

The clean-cut, smiling Inspector raised a form and pressed it against the glass in front of Tsubame for her to read. Inspector Shimotsuki shifted in her seat next to Tsunemori, apparently expecting a poor reaction from the latent criminal behind the transparent barrier. Tsubame tilted her head slightly to read the page, scanning it for any indication of a catch. There were a few concerning clauses regarding the reprimanding of Enforcers by Inspectors, but it seemed that such consequences could be avoided if one was careful. She'd never been shot with a Dominator, and didn't plan to try it out any time soon.

"What do you think, Ms. Maekawa? SYBIL has suggested your release into the custody of the MWPSB based on your aptitude for the work we would train you to do. Would you like to leave with us today as an Enforcer for Division One?" Inspector Tsunemori peeked at Tsubame from around the parchment she held.

"Division One of the PSB... And I get to live at Nona Tower instead of in a padded room in this Hell hole?" Tsubame looked away from the Inspector's gaze as the short-haired woman nodded enthusiastically.

"You bet. SYBIL has authorized a one way ticket out of here if you sign the employment agreement. It's not quite the same as the life you lived before, but it beats sitting around in an isolation room, right?"

A voice in the back of her mind told Tsubame to run. _Nothing good can come from being subjected to people in this society. Go back to your room where you don't have to interact with anyone ever again. It'll keep your hue clear._ As she reconsidered, a different voice from the most concealed depths of her memory rang out in defiance of her reluctance. _Look, Missy, latent criminals don't get very many do-overs. My life wouldn't have much meaning if it weren't for cases like this and survivors like you. Don't let me down, alright? _

"Mr. Masaoka…" she whispered to herself. Tsubame closed her eyes and forced a timid smile to her face. "Inspectors," she said, confidently now, "let's go home."

* * *

For the first time in six years, Tsubame pulled on some clothing that had been stored away on the day she was admitted. The clothes that used to be hers no longer fit over her older-than-eighteen figure, so she grabbed the jeans, camisole, and button-up that used to belong to her mother. She pulled on a pair of her mother's boots, slid into her dark green double breasted pea coat and looked at herself in the mirror on the wall of her isolation room. She took the crimson ribbon she used to wear in her hair and tied it in a low ponytail at the nape of her neck. Minus her mother's ever-perfect make-up, she was shocked to see how much resemblance she'd inherited. Her fingers found the wedding bands that hung on a chain at the hollow of her throat. Nervously, she turned toward the door of the room and placed her hand on the glass.

The ding of the scanner positively identifying Tsubame as someone who was approved to open the door set her heart aflutter. Until this moment, she had been trapped within the confines of those four padded walls without the authority to control who entered or exited her room. The sudden realization of empowerment triggered sirens in her head. _This is dangerous. You can't be trusted with this. You can't leave your safe place. You'll get hurt. _Inspector Shimotsuki was waiting patiently behind the door as it opened.

"Ready to go?" The thin-lipped, dark-haired woman looked as uninterested as ever. It was apparent to Tsubame that Inspector Shimotsuki was all business all the time. She hesitated before stepping into the hallway next to her new superior.

"W-where did Inspector Tsunemori g-go?" Tsubame asked, trying to control her stutter. She hadn't had issues with her speech impediment since before she'd been admitted into Isolation, but now it tied her tongue with a sickeningly familiar stickiness.

"She went outside to bring the cruiser around. Do you have all of your personal items?"

Tsubame nodded, not wanting to seem too intimidated by the Inspector. Her nerves had taken over her tongue, but her head still worked fine. She followed Shimotsuki down the long corridor of isolation chambers. Many of them had the curtain holo drawn against the light from the hallway, but a few of the cubicles were visible through the glass wall. They seemed even more like fish tanks to Tsubame than ever before. One inmate sat motionless on her bed, staring at a drawing on her wall. Another lay reading something on the holo-screen from his wristband. She shuddered at the thought of everyone in the corridor being able to spy on her like that. The name for the "Isolation" ward certainly didn't seem appropriate for such a place. It felt more like a zoo.

Shimotsuki held the door open for Tsubame at the end of the hallway, allowing her to enter the lobby of the asylum first. It had a very sterile taste to it; the kind of aroma that assaults the back of your throat before your nose even recognizes it. The Inspector walked over to the circulation desk to sign one final release paper before Inspector Tsunemori entered the lobby through the front door.

"I take it Ginoza is still accounted for?" Shimotsuki grumbled, clearly irritated by the notion that this Ginoza character was even present.

"Of course," Tsunemori sighed, rolling her eyes. "Since when have you known Enforcer Ginoza to be of concern for deserting?"

"Since _Enforcer_ Ginoza became a hound. Really Akane, you give them too much credit. The SYBIL system's assessment of a person's crime coefficient doesn't lie." Shimotsuki handed the pen back to the receptionist.

"It also doesn't tell the whole truth," Akane mumbled so that only Tsubame could hear. Her eyes widened at the Inspector's disdain for the SYBIL system, but her mouth remained firmly closed. Akane smiled and motioned toward the door. "Are you ready to leave, Ms. Maekawa?"

Tsubame followed Tsunemori to the door, inhaling deeply as it slid open to a partly cloudy, somewhat brisk late afternoon. A white Public Safety Bureau cruiser was parked on the curb next to the rehab facility. Akane looked back at Tsubame over the yellow "103" on her blue MWPSB jacket and winked.

"I think you'll find Nona Tower a much more comfortable place to live, Ms. Maekawa. I'm sure Mr. Ginoza wouldn't mind showing you around once we get back."

"M-Mr. Ginoza?" Tsubame flinched. Akane walked to the car and opened the door for the new Enforcer. As Tsubame approached, she felt her knees weaken in fear. _Run._

"Ms. Maekawa! Glad to see you'll be joining us after all!" the man's kind smile seemed familiar enough for Tsubame to relax a little, but she watched him carefully as she took her seat next to him and Akane shut the door. She held her breath until the Inspector took her seat in front of the steering wheel. "Nobuchika Ginoza," the pale-skinned, midnight-haired Enforcer introduced. "Or just Gino, if you prefer." He extended his hand across the small space between them.

"T-Tsubame Maekawa. It's n-nice to meet y-you." Tsubame's hand shook violently as she accepted Gino's handshake. He quirked a questioning eyebrow, but did not pursue her timid response. Sensing that her apprehension had something to do with his proximity, he nodded subtly to her before leaning casually against the door on his side, away from her. She blushed and turned away to stare out her window. _He's a friend, Tsubame,_ she tried to reason. _He's not going to hurt you_. She forced herself to take a breath to check herself before glancing back over at him, cursing herself for pulling her hair back. His content expression put her a little more at ease, and he seemed to be consumed by his own thoughts. She relaxed against the seat while Shimotsuki entered the vehicle and Tsunemori punched in the Nona Tower address. An overwhelming relief flooded her chest. _Nona Tower._

* * *

"Well, Missy, if you need anything just give the Inspector a call over at the MWPSB, alright? Just make sure you don't go setting off any more street scanners."

The kind old man smiled at Tsubame, but she could tell he saw through her insistence that she was fine. If she reported what had raised her stress level, Mr. Fujimoto would definitely be upset with her, and she really didn't want to risk that.

"Masaoka, let's head out. There's another stress level alert just south of here. We gotta go check it out," the spikey-haired Inspector called. Masaoka nodded back at him before placing a hand on Tsubame's shoulder. "You're lucky your hue cleared up on the way home, Missy. A fourteen-year-old doesn't need to be going to rehab. Get some rest, alright?"

Tsubame nodded, her head spinning a bit. She blinked the memory away as a hand waved in front of her face. "Are you alright, Ms. Maekawa?" Yayoi Kunizuka, another Division One Enforcer, stood facing Tsubame in the common area of the Enforcer's shared wing of Nona Tower.

"Yes, sorry Yayoi. You were saying?"

"All of the Division One Enforcers have unlimited access to the kitchenette, television, and lounge area in this wing. Inspectors have the same access of course, but they mostly leave us to ourselves while we're off-duty. It's a great place to come relax after work. Normally another Enforcer is around to keep company." Yayoi's deadpan face and almost robotic voice gave Tsubame the idea that she didn't actually spend much time socializing in the common area. "I'll show you to your room. Inspector Akane should be there already. She wants to debrief you before leaving you for the night."

Yayoi lead Tsubame through a door at the back of the kitchenette, which opened up to a hallway with six doors lining it; three on each side. Akane leaned against the first door on the right, reading something on her portable holo-screen. She looked up and smiled as the women approached her.

"Thank you for giving Ms. Maekawa a tour, Yayoi. I really appreciate it."

Yayoi nodded silently and turned to go back to the common area, presumably to return to the Division One office. Tsubame smiled meekly at the Inspector.

"So how many Enforcers are there in Division One?"

"Four," Akane answered, opening the door she stood in front of. "Ms. Kunizuka, Mr. Ginoza, Mr. Hinakawa, and you. This hallway is where all of you are assigned to live. The middle doors on either side of the hallway are bathrooms. Yayoi's room is the one at the end on the right, the door across from yours is Hinakawa's, and the one at the end on the left is Ginoza's. He might actually be in there now. He went off duty shortly after we arrived. Sho and Yayoi are on the night shift. Do you know how to work a room holo?"

Akane entered Tsubame's room and pointed to the small control pad near the door.

"You can change the room's interior with the control pad. It's pretty dark in here without a texture selected, but some people like it that way." Akane's eyes softened at the notion. "If you move the furniture, you'll just have to reprogram the holo." Akane opened a menu on the screen and showed Tsubame how to drag and drop the locations of her furniture on the screen. Then she scrolled through the decoration options. She chose a traditional style, not unlike the décor in the apartment in which Tsubame grew up with her parents. Tsubame reached over and tapped the next option on the list; a more contemporary design with sleek edges and an orderly feel.

"I think I'll stick with this one," she offered, not meeting Akane's eyes.

"Sounds like a plan," Akane smiled. She looked over at Tsubame's open door where Ginoza had appeared from the hallway.

"I'm pretty fond of the contemporary look, myself," he smiled. "I'm going to make some dinner if you'd like to join me Maekawa. I know it's been a long day for you."

"I d-don't think I…"

"That's very kind of you, Ginoza," Akane nodded. "Gino's a pretty good cook," the Inspector winked at Tsubame.

"I suppose I could eat a l-little," Tsubame caved, not wanting to offend either of them.

"Great! I've got to get going now. My apartment's a twenty minute commute from here. Have a good night! I'll see you both in the morning." Akane waved and walked past Gino, leaving the two Enforcers alone. Tsubame stood frozen in place, trapped by Ginoza's form in the doorway. Her heart began to race.

"Chicken or beef?" Gino asked after a moment. He stepped away from the door and gestured for her to go first.

"Uh, chicken I g-guess." She warily crossed his path and entered the hallway between him and the open door to the kitchenette. She steadied herself on the counter while he pulled supplies from the cabinets.

"So what do you think so far? Better than Rehab?"

_Depends_, her inner voice sassed him. She caught herself scowling at him before he turned around.

"I'm not really s-sure yet," she stuttered. She closed her eyes and focused on willing away her uncertainty.

"Are you alright, Missy?" Ginoza asked.

"Missy?" she whispered back to him. He dipped his head to her height from across the island and looked up at her face through his hair. Tsubame avoided his eyes, glancing down at her white-knuckled grip on the counter top. She shook her head, swallowing her growing anxiety. After clearing her throat, she forced a confident tone from her lungs. "I'm fine, Mr. Ginoza."

"If you're sure," he sighed, slightly worried. _What did this poor woman experience in that place?_ Ginoza could remember that his own rehabilitation after Masaoka's death and Kogami's disappearance wasn't particularly pleasant, but he'd never been in Isolation. He wondered how people ever managed to survive so cut off from reality. _Perhaps she's having a hard time coping with it… Like culture shock in a way._

Tsubame sat down rigidly on a bar stool opposite where Ginoza began boiling water on the stove top. With his back turned to her, she closed her eyes and tried to calm down. _He's just a co-worker. He's not going to come after me. That's not supposed to happen_. She squeezed her eyes against her thoughts as paranoia overtook her brain. _Teachers aren't supposed to come after you either, Idiot. Let your guard down enough and you'll end up right where you started this nightmare. All men have the capability to hurt you. Father didn't believe you, Masaoka left you, and Mr. Fujimoto…_

"So where are you from?" Ginoza's voice interrupted her internal panic attack. She shook her head and swallowed.

"Just north of the city… My parents used to have an apartment there." She dropped her eyes to the floor, loneliness filling her to the brim of her eyes. "They died when I was fourteen."

"I'm so sorry," Gino flinched. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. My parents are gone as well. I know that it's a touchy subject."

"Th-thanks," Tsubame replied. She picked at her fingernails nervously. "How long have you worked at the MWPSB?"

"I was hired as an Inspector right out of Uni," Ginoza answered. "I was nineteen and pretty naïve about the world. I was fortunate enough to have a rather experienced partner when I started. That was about ten years ago."

"You were an Inspector?"

"Up until a few years ago," Ginoza smiled under his bangs. "I got a bionic arm, a clouded hue, and a demotion to hunting dog." He thought better of bringing up Masaoka. No need to trade gory stories with another orphan.

"I didn't know that could happen," Tsubame admitted.

"It happens more often than you'd think," Ginoza sighed. "But being an Enforcer isn't so bad. It allows latent criminals to serve some purpose in this world. At least we're useful, right?"

"I suppose," she shrugged. Gino began plating the meal he'd made for the two of them; steamed rice, stir-fried vegetables, and teriyaki chicken. He slid her plate in front of her with chopsticks stuck in the center. It smelled delicious, the tang of the sauce whetting the sudden grumble in her stomach. After a few bites she began to feel a bit more relaxed. Ginoza leaned easily on the counter across from her, unsure if joining her on the other side of the island was a good idea.

"Do you drink?" he asked, reaching for the bottle of wine he'd set out at the beginning of his preparations. He poured himself a glass.

She shook her head no.

"I wasn't old enough before…" she trailed.

"Right," he grimaced. "Sorry."

"It's okay."

"I'm not going to make you drink it, but this is pretty good wine. And a little can go a long way for a bit of stress relief. Here, just try some." He pushed his glass towards her.

_Here, just try some_. The words rang menacingly between her ears. Mr. Fujimoto's predatory glare appeared before her, a small bite of tofu pressed insistently to her lips. _If you don't like it I'll find something else, but you have to eat, Tsubame. _Tears streamed down her face against her will as she faded in and out of the kitchenette where she sat with Ginoza and her bedroom-turned-prison with the man who stole everything from her.

"Maekawa? Hey! Maekawa!"

"What?" she snapped at Ginoza, who had somehow appeared right next to her.

"You look a little pale. Maybe you should go lie down."

_He just can't say anything right_. Fujimoto's voice oozed from the parts of her brain she'd tried to contain for the last ten years. Her parents lay bleeding in their bed, that sinister man standing incriminatingly above them, telling her to go back to bed. Without thinking, Tsubame shoved Ginoza away.

"Leave me alone," she whimpered, covering her face, "please."

"I'm sorry, Maekawa, I don't know what I've done."

"It's not you. There's no way you could know…" she peeked up at him, warning him not to return to her side. "I'm not alright, okay? I probably never will be. It's not your fault, and it's not your problem. Don't take it personally, okay?"

With that, she left Ginoza to his ignorant glass of wine. She locked her door and cried as quietly as possible into her pillow, gripping the fabric of the pillowcase so hard she could feel her fingers going numb.

* * *

Ginoza stared at the closed door to the hallway for several uncomfortable moments after Tsubame's retreat. He ran a hand through his hair before grabbing his wine glass and flopping down on the couch in the common room. His Inspector voice nagged him for his affinity for alcohol, but his Enforcer voice laughed in his face. He sighed and took a sip before placing the glass on the coffee table next to him.

"If there's one thing Inspector Ginoza and Enforcer Ginoza have in common, it's their ability to dig themselves unwittingly into a hole." He had to chuckle to himself as he remembered many a time when he had unintentionally insulted poor Akane in her rookie days. "I'm glad I'm not that much of an asshole anymore," he sighed. _Amazing how becoming a hound takes the giant stick out of one's ass…_

He glanced at the clock on the wall. _Doesn't take long to replace the stick with your own head though, Nobuchika. Way to go. _Rubbing his eyes, he sat up and hunched over his knees. _Bed time_. He downed the bubbling white wine and stood to place the glass with the other dishes in the sink where the housekeeping application would disintegrate and regenerate the dinnerware. As he passed Maekawa's room on his way down the hall, he stopped to listen at the door, his heart twisting guiltily in his chest. A heavy sigh released only half of the tightness between his shoulders. _Sorry, Maekawa._

A sleepy hand found its way to the bio-lock on his door. The relief of entering his room at the end of a long day was exactly what his mind needed. He stretched as he sat on his bed, set the alarm on his tracking wristband, and covered his head with his comforter, feigning sleep until the enigma finally decided to grace his eyelids with its welcomed weight.

The first few hours of the night were peaceful behind Ginoza's closed eyelids. A screen played clips of happier times; of his childhood before Masaoka's demotion to Enforcer. He watched a small version of himself search the tiny garden outside his parent's home for fireflies in the middle of a sultry summer evening, the moon just barely visible in the pink-purple sky. Masaoka smiled and caught a blinking bug for him and held it up for little Nobuchika to see.

"Papa, do fireflies have psycho passes?"

"I'm not sure, kiddo," Masaoka replied. "If they do, I'm sure their hue is always clear. What could possibly stress out a firefly?"

"What clouds a hue, anyway?"

"Honestly I don't even think this new SYBIL system knows for sure. Different things, I suppose. Stress, frustration, tragedy…" Masaoka's eyes saddened. "But you know that, don't you Gino?"

Masaoka turned to face Ginoza where he stood watching the memory from a distance. In that instance, the scenery melted away to a dark, run-down processing plant on a deserted plot of farmland. An explosion behind Masaoka choked both of them, and the sound of steel giving way to gravity screeched to a heavy thud.

"Dad!" Ginoza ran to his father, knowing what he would find. He'd seen the image a million times, every day, burned into his eyelids like the mark left on Kogami's Inspector jacket by a stray cigarette butt. Ginoza jolted out of his nightmare and checked the time on his wristband. _One more hour than last night_, he thought, relishing the small victory that was four hours of solid sleep. He stood, adrenaline flushing the weariness from his body. The raven-haired man pulled on a pair of athletic shorts, took a breath to steady himself, and wandered shirtless into the common area. The figure of someone standing at the glass exterior wall startled him at first. Sho was a sound sleeper with a decently strict bedtime, and Yayoi never slept in the Division One quarters since Shion's room was so much bigger. Not to mention both of them were on duty. Tsubame's palm lay flat against the window.

"May I join you?" Ginoza asked quietly, hoping to avoid surprising her. Tsubame shrugged, not turning to look at him. Ginoza stepped slowly toward the window, careful to approach Tsubame from a wide enough angle that she could see him in her periphery. He stopped several feet away from her and turned to stare out over the city. "Can't sleep?"

"I'm just a bit unsettled, I guess," she lied. _Everything is too loud and there are two potential break-in points in my room. How can anyone sleep like this?_ "What about you?"

"I don't sleep much in general," he admitted. "My mind races at night sometimes. It was bad as an Inspector, but with so much time on my hands as an Enforcer it's worsened… especially since my brain tends to get creative when it's tired. It's a vicious cycle, really."

"I can relate." She turned to face him now, her arms crossed defensively over her chest. She was still wearing her clothes from the day. It seemed to Ginoza that she hadn't even attempted to sleep. _She'll regret it tomorrow_. Her eyes widened at his appearance. "D-do you normally walk around half n-naked when you can't s-sleep?"

He blushed. The Enforcers were all so comfortable with each other he didn't even think about his shirtless-ness offending anyone. The detective switch blew a breaker in his mind as a question shoved its way out of his brain. _Why is she so intimidated by me_?

"I apologize, Ms. Maekawa, I didn't know anyone else was up. I can go change if it'd make you more comfortable."

"N-no it's f-fine," she fought. She squeezed her hands together in an attempt to quiet the tremble that shook her voice. _Uncomfortable keeps me wary. I need to stay uncomfortable._ She cleared her throat and changed the subject. "You'll have to p…" she paused to stop from tripping over the word… "pardon my stutter. I can't always c-control it."

"Sounds frustrating," Gino nodded, a compassionate half-smile gracing his face. "I don't mind it. Take your time, I like talking with you."

"W-why?" She couldn't imagine she made for good company. "All I've done so far is freak out at you."

"As an Enforcer you don't get to mingle much with new people. Yayoi isn't a woman of many words, and Sho's pretty introverted. It's nice to have someone else around." Internally he yearned for a connection with someone. He missed his father, he missed his best friend, and he even missed Akane. Inspector Tsunemori had become increasingly distant with him for reasons beyond what she could tell him. When they spent time together normally they passed it sitting somewhere quiet with a lit Spinel filling the air with Kogami's smoky aroma. Though knowing they both missed Kogami made Ginoza feel a little less alone, Akane tried very hard to avoid conversations about it. And, for the sake of her hue, he didn't press her about it.

"I see…" Tsubame mulled this over for a moment before deciding to take a seat on the couch behind her. "It's difficult for m-me to understand that," she admitted. "People are more of a problem than a comfort."

The gears in Ginoza's brain were turning.

"Does being around people make you stutter?" He made sure to keep his voice soft, banishing his Inspector tone for the duration of this conversation. He didn't want to cause her any more anxiety than he already was.

"Y-yes." She looked away from him, trying to ignore the terrifying outline of the muscles in his human arm. She was sure he could easily hold her down. At that thought her mind lit up in conflict with itself. _This is why your crime coefficient is so high. You literally worry about everything. But is it not true that I would be physically no match for him? At least if I scream it'd wake up Hinakawa. Except for he's not here. Could I even outrun him?_

"I don't know if this will help you, but I promise you're safe in Nona Tower. None of the people here would do anything to hurt you. And out in the field, the same people have your back. We take each other's safety very seriously, and as a group, the Enforcers prioritize the safety of the Inspectors. We can't well protect Mika and Akane if one of us gets hurt, so we also look out for our own. You're a hound, I'm a hound. We've got the same goal. My success, and the success of Division One, resides in our ability to work together as Enforcers."

"That helps a little," she sighed, the stiffness in her tongue dissipating. "I just need some time, I guess."

Ginoza dipped his head in acceptance of this. Outwardly he was calm, but internally he was flooding with questions. He wanted to understand where Tsubame was coming from. He wanted to help her feel at ease. Most importantly, he wanted to prevent her issues from causing disorder and mistakes when it mattered most. He excused himself and returned to his room, spending the rest of the night searching the few documents he had access to for answers about Maekawa. After a fruitless search, he resolved to speak with Akane as soon as possible about it, hoping she'd understand his concerns.


	2. The First Case

The office was a foreign place to Tsubame at first. Hinakawa sat at his computer with a manual for de-bugging enviro-holos pulled up on his computer screen. Kunizuka had an instant messenger pulled up and was messaging someone very important to her on the other end. Mika and Akane shuffled papers, typed reports, and filed their work away, tripping over each other frequently, but hardly looking up to apologize. Tsubame relaxed a bit into her desk chair. They were all very normal people. Sure the majority of them had ridiculous crime coefficients, but didn't she? Ginoza spent the day fervently researching different things on this computer, so she did her best to not bother him. She bided some time watching his type furiously on his keyboard, huffing and holding the delete key when his mechanical fingers fudged up his characters. The morning went off without a hitch. Around lunch time, Ginoza stood up and stretched, peeking nonchalantly over Yayoi's shoulder.

"You know, Yayoi, those messages aren't private. You do remember you and Shion are latent criminals, right? The department keeps and monitors all of your correspondence."

Yayoi's face turned a little pink, but she recomposed herself and turned her monitor off.

"Ginoza, behave," Akane chided, still hunched over one of hundreds of forms she'd filled out that day. "You should all go grab lunch together. It's the first time in a while we've had such a long streak with no alerts. I'll page you if something comes up."

"Sorry, Yayoi. Do you think Karanamori would mind if we all hung out with her for lunch? Ms. Maekawa hasn't met her yet."

"I wouldn't know what Shion would or wouldn't mind. She changes her mind a lot." Yayoi stood and picked up her jacket that hung on her chair.

"Can it with your lovers' spat already," Mika grumbled. "Get outta here so I can finish this report. You're all driving me insane."

"Careful Inspector. Your hue might cloud if you get too upset," Ginoza shot in defense of Yayoi. "Insanity is one of the prerequisites for latent criminals."

Sho and Yayoi smiled slightly at this. Mika just took a deep breath and ignored the Enforcer. Ginoza straightened his tie before turning to lead the other three to the cafeteria to get some food. Not feeling particularly hungry, Tsubame plucked an apple from a fruit bowl and grabbed a glass of water before going to meet the others at the entrance to the cafeteria.

"Is that all you're eating, Maekawa?" Yayoi asked, slight concern raising the pitch of her voice.

"I'm not super hungry at the moment."

"Yayoi's right though. If we go out on a call, you're going to need some stamina. Here," Ginoza wrapped half of his sandwich in a napkin and handed Tsubame the plate holding the other half. "We'll split it."

Tsubame looked to Yayoi for help, but the stoic woman seemed to agree with Ginoza's insistence. _I guess I'm eating Ginoza's sandwich then…_ The group of them climbed the stairs one level to Shion Kuranamori's Data Analysis Lab. Tsubame was shocked when the golden-haired woman spun around in her desk chair to greet them. Her low-cut blouse and pencil skirt paired with her deep red lipstick screamed sexuality. It made the newest Enforcer withdraw to the back of the group as close to Yayoi as she could get. That was, until Yayoi left her to stand next to Kuranamori.

"So this is the pup Maekawa that Akane had me authorize last night. Nice to meet you."

Tsubame nodded, feeling suddenly vulnerable in the room full of latent criminals. She was at a distinct disadvantage. The other four were familiar with each other. They could trust each other. She on the other hand had no idea what to expect from any of them. Determined to hide her fears, Tsubame walked forward and found a seat on the long couch next to Hinakawa, Ginoza taking up residence on Sho's other side.

"What's the scoop today, Kuranamori?" Ginoza took a bite of his half of the turkey and cheese sandwich in his hand.

"You know, I can't decide if I like you like this Gino. You're just so informal. You've lost a bit of that controlling, unyielding air you used to carry. I actually think I miss you being an asshole."

"It's a bit too late to realize that, isn't it?" Gino scoffed. "Like it or not, this is probably how it'll be for the rest of my time here at the Bureau. It seems there's no going back once your crime coefficient reaches a certain number."

"You're right. I just like to poke fun. I heard you giving Yayoi a rough time this morning. Seems the asshole persists under that laid-back façade of yours." Shion crossed one knee over the other and lit a cigarette.

"Sorry for that, but one can only glance over and see certain expletive phrases so many times before feeling obligated to say something. Sexuality is supposed to be a deviant characteristic in society after all. We don't want to go tainting our Inspectors' psycho passes." Ginoza raised an eyebrow at Shion. "Though to give you some credit, you're very creative Kuranamori."

She winked at him before glancing up at Yayoi, whose eyebrow twitched irritably at the two of them. "Glad someone thinks so. But if I didn't know you to be the most asexual man in Japan, I'd accuse you of being jealous, Nobuchika."

Hinakawa coughed, nearly choking on his food. Tsubame blushed and avoided eye contact with all of them.

"And how on Earth would you deduce that?" Gino parried. "Keeping things to myself doesn't mean there aren't things to keep."

"Right," Shion laughed. "Well for starters, your indifference to Akane when she started working here… I would've just pegged you as gay, except you also showed no romantic interest in Kogami. And let's face it, _everyone_ had a romantic interest in that man."

"Kami, Shion, can you give it a rest? One, it's called business etiquette, and two, why is my sex life _so_ important to you?"

"I think you underestimate the degree to which my life is consumed by this room. Everyone's sex lives are of interest to me. Some more than others, of course."

Yayoi just rolled her eyes, clearly used to Shion's antics. Tsubame could feel the panic rising in her chest. _They talk about it like it's so normal. _

"I apologize for Shion's crassness, Maekawa. She's a little rough around the edges." Ginoza stood and tossed his napkin in the small trash incinerator.

"But I assure you, Sweetie, I'm smooth everywhere else." The red-lipped woman winked. Tsubame did her best to sink as far as possible into the couch. Shion's eyes sharpened and Tsubame suddenly needed air. She stood without saying anything, dumping her half-eaten sandwich on the floor, and walked to the hallway, gasping. "Was it something I said?" she heard Kuranamori ask the others as the door slid closed. She clung to the wall, head spinning. _It's not him… It's not even __**a**__ him. I'm sure she's joking._ No woman had ever made her feel so predated. A flip of her stomach crumpled her to the floor.

"Ms. Maekawa?" She tensed at Ginoza's voice, burying her head in her arms. "Maekawa? Are you okay?" She'd already answered that question the night before, so she felt no need to acknowledge it. Ginoza knelt next to her, careful to leave several inches between them.

"Please, I just can't breathe is all," Tsubame whimpered from beneath her sleeves.

"Well, I don't know how you expect to fix that with your face hidden like that." He hoped she'd laugh a little, but when she didn't he blamed his own dry sense of humor. _What would Kagari say?_ He huffed, frustrated with himself. _Ginoza, just get her off the floor. _"Would you like to go back down to the office?"

Tsubame lifted her head high enough to nod her response. Ginoza offered her his hand, but she pretended not to see it, stood, and began walking down the hallway toward the elevator. As the two of them waited for it, Tsubame's nerves returned to her. She chewed habitually on the inside of her bottom lip.

"So… Is it something I can ask about?" Ginoza's concerns from early that morning cluttered his mind. _I need to know so that she doesn't get anyone killed._

"I would r-rather not talk ab-bout it…"

Ginoza sighed, but restrained himself.

"Is it okay if I ride in the elevator with you? I seem to trigger your anxiety more than other people… At least more than Yayoi and Inspector Tsunemori do…"

Tsubame contemplated taking the out he'd offered, but also felt awful for making him take the stairs down seven floors.

"I think I can m-manage it," she murmured. _Why does this stupid stutter have to come back now? _Tears stung at the corners of her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. Their elevator ride was quick, but the stagnant silence between them seemed to last forever. They found Akane eating a homemade lunch at her desk, still working on a report.

"Is Inspector Shimotsuki gone for the day?"Ginoza pulled Tsubame's desk chair out for her before making his way over to Akane's desk.

"Thankfully, yes," the short-haired Inspector grumbled without looking up. "She had an appointment with her therapist. Her hue is fine, but her stress levels have increased in the last week, which is strange considering the lack of cases. I think she's serious about the three of you driving her insane."

Tsubame logged back into her computer and aimlessly scanned the news for the day. _Old habits die hard_.

"Inspector, when you get a moment, do you think I could have a word…" Ginoza's request was cut short by an alarm and a mechanical voice booming over the office's intercom.

"This is an Elevated Stress Level Warning: A psycho pass above regulation value has been detected by a street scanner near the old Toyama Library. An eyewitness report states seeing a suspect dragging a hostage into the building. Inspector on duty, please go straight to the site with Enforcers immediately."

_Crap. _Ginoza looked over his shoulder at Maekawa, doing his best to feign reassurance. "Ready, Missy?"

"Ready or not, we need to go now." Akane swung her coat over her shoulders and rushed the two of them out the door to the elevator. She punched the button to take them to the parking garage where a cruiser and paddy wagon were waiting, their automated systems already calculating the shortest route to the triggered street scanner. Ginoza jogged up the ramp into the back of the armored transport vehicle and sat on the bench.

"In th-there?" Tsubame whispered to herself. Akane pointed into the opening of the wagon.

"Just take a seat in the paddy wagon with Enforcer Ginoza. He'll explain on the way there. You'll get your Dominator once we get there."

Tsubame willed her feet to carry her into the giant metal box. As she sat down Ginoza briefed her on how the Dominator works and instructed her to do as SYBIL told her unless Inspector Tsunemori says otherwise. Throughout his explanation he couldn't help but wonder if SYBIL had made a mistake in Tsubame's aptitude assessment. _This poor girl is terrified. She acts like a high school student with an invisibility complex. _The paddy wagon stopped and the door lowered to reveal the library. Dilapidated and long forgotten by hi-tech society, the library had been scheduled for demolition, but somehow still stood, its doors wide open.

The Dominators' containment unit rolled up to the end of the ramp. Ginoza stepped off and grabbed his gun, Akane plucking hers shortly after.

"Subdue the target, recover the hostage. Do not shoot the victim unless their psycho pass is low enough to trigger the Paralyzer."

"Understood. Maekawa, I'm going to take the right wing of the building. You take the left." The map from his wristband blinked away. "Maekawa?"

She'd come to stand next to Ginoza and stared intently at the Dominator that sat lifeless in the unit.

"Got it," she growled. _Time to pay my dues. I owe this to Mr. Masaoka. _

Ginoza, slightly taken off guard by Tsubame's sudden confidence, watched the rookie remove her Dominator from its home. Her irises lit up as the weapon verified her authorizations. _A little faith, Ginoza. Maybe if I had more, I would still be an Inspector. _

"Be careful," Akane warned. "I'll run around back and secure the fire exits. He's not going to get away."

With that, the trio split, Tsubame and Gino darting inside and Akane sprinting to the back of the building. Tsubame crept up the stairs to the left wing of the building. The main floor was bare, the remnants of an old circulation desk collecting dust below a once grand chandelier. She ducked in and out of the maze of disintegrating bookcases looking for any trace of their disturbance. Leading with the dominator, she peeked through a slightly ajar door to an old study room. _Empty. _She heard Ginoza's voice in her ear.

"There are rooms lining the entire library. Check all of them. They must be in one."

Pressed to the wall, Tsubame made her way down the row of abandoned offices and meeting rooms. Halfway down the corridor, she heard a muffled shout.

"Did you hear that?" she hissed into the microphone of her radio.

"Barely. They must be closer to you. I'll be there as soon as possible. Inspector, we've narrowed it down to the left wing."

"Ten-four. Remember your orders. Be safe. I'll be up shortly."

"Maekawa, if you see them, don't do anything stupid. We don't want him to hurt the hostage."

Tsubame crept further down the rows of decaying books, hoping that Ginoza would find the suspect first, but doubting that was an option at this point. The next door was closed and the dust on the floor appeared to have recently settled around two marks that reminded her of kicking feet being dragged against their will. Her heart sprung to her throat.

"Ginoza," she whispered, "I think I found them."

"Stay there, I'm halfway up the staircase."

_He'll never make it_.

"Please, don't…" a voice rang out. "Why are you doing this?"

Forgetting the plan entirely, Tsubame kicked the door open to find the suspect holding the hostage down, a knife to her throat.

"Get off of her, you bastard!"

Dropping the Dominator, Tsubame slammed into the man, pinning him to the floor and sending the knife flying. The woman grabbed the blade and scrambled back against the wall of the room to defend herself, but quickly realized there was no need. The Enforcer before her delivered blow after blow to her assailant's face.

"Maekawa!" Ginoza's voice echoed down the hallway. "Maekawa, are you okay?" Gino appeared panting in the doorframe, a lock of hair stuck to the sweat on his forehead. He froze, the situation before him not initially making sense.

_Dominator on the floor, hostage in the corner, Maekawa beating suspect with her fists. What the Hell?_

"Maekawa!" Gino aimed his Dominator at the suspect, but Tsubame was too close. It read her psycho pass instead.

"Crime Coefficient: 426. Target is a registered Enforcer. Enforcer Ginoza does not possess proper authorization to administer enforcement. The trigger is now locked."

"Damn it, Maekawa!" Ginoza tossed the Dominator to the ground and wrapped his arms around his flailing partner. In her confusion, Tsubame caught Ginoza in the jaw with a right hook. "Shit! Maekawa, snap out of it!" He wrapped his body around her as much as possible in an attempt to contain her arms.

For a brief moment, Tsubame's crazed eyes met Ginoza's worried ones. Her heart stopped.

"Masaoka?"

"Ginoza! What the Hell is going on?" Akane reached the room as Tsubame's body went limp and she gave in to the sobs building in her chest. The culprit lay unconscious on the floor, the hostage motionless in the corner of the room. Ginoza held Tsubame tightly to his chest, her tears quickly saturating his button-up under his jacket.

* * *

"You're lucky," Ginoza grumbled, pressing a bag of frozen peas to his jaw. He sat in the common area of the Division One living quarters in the chair adjacent to the sofa where Tsubame lounged uncomfortably, her hands wrapped in bandages in her lap. "Only two fractured bones and a slap on the wrist from Inspector Akane. She could've had you re-evaluated. With your crime coefficient earlier…"

"I know, Ginoza. You d-don't have to rub it i-in."

"What happened back there?"

"I j-just lost it. H-he was on t-top of h-her… threatening to k-kill her. M-my first reaction was to s-save her… I just f-forgot I was armed. I'm really s-sorry."

Ginoza sighed. "It's alright. You didn't kill him, and it seems your crime coefficient has settled back at 215. How's your hue?"

"Plum," she shrugged.

"Could be worse."

"It has been," she corrected. He turned his gaze to the twinkling lights out the window.

"So, how did you know Masaoka? I swear I heard you say his name earlier…" Ginoza's stomach twisted. Talking about his father didn't help him feel better about his death.

"Did I?" She couldn't really recall the events that had transpired between entering the library and finding herself face-first in Gino's damp shirt. "He saved me once. I'd rather not…"

"Me either," Ginoza agreed. "Let's talk about something else."

"D-did that woman have to get t-treatment?"

"Oddly enough, her psycho pass came back clearer than most hostages who see us use the Dominators. I guess your approach was a little less gory. Plus you didn't actually kill the guy in front of her. The original prognosis has her good as new after a few appointments with her personal therapist."

"G-good."

"Well, I think I'm going to go try to get some rest. You should too," he suggested.

"N-no rest for the wicked," she shrugged. "Isn't that how it goes?"

"I honestly have no idea," Ginoza admitted, _but I knew someone who would have_. "Goodnight, Tsubame."

"N-night Mr. Ginoza."

* * *

Ginoza tossed and turned that night, unable to find a comfortable position in his bed. _I need to know how she knows my father_. He rolled over and pulled up the messaging app on his wristband.

TO: TSUNEMORI, AKANE

Something just doesn't sit right with me about Maekawa. Do you have time to meet with me in the morning?

Ginoza was doubtful that Akane was still awake, so when a response pinged in to his inbox, he was surprised.

FROM: TSUNEMORI, AKANE

I think I can make some time. Meet me on the balcony before the shift starts. Get some sleep, Ginoza.

TO: TSUNEMORI, AKANE

Back at you, Inspector.

Feeling a bit more at ease, Ginoza closed his eyes and fell into a light sleep. He awoke early, showered, and grabbed a handful of grapes from the refrigerator in the kitchenette before heading for the door.

"You're leaving rather early," Yayoi noted, stretching as she entered the common room from the hallway.

"I need to speak with Akane. You're returning rather early. Is everything alright?"

"Shion has a lot of paperwork to catch up on today." Kunizuka sighed. "She's been pretty on edge lately… As on edge as she can be, anyway. Her hue is darker now than before she was hired, and it doesn't seem to want to clear up. She's worried…"

"Kuranamori is good at her job. As long as she focuses on that and keeps her record clean, I think she'll be alright. Tell her that."

Yayoi nodded and slipped through the door to the Enforcers' quarters.

* * *

Akane stood leaning on the railing of the balcony. Ginoza had mixed feelings about the place. Most of the time he'd spent up here had been weighed down with difficult conversations and regret.

"You're worried about Ms. Maekawa's aptitude." Akane didn't turn around.

"You must be too. She's damaged. And she doesn't want to explain it."

"Yesterday during the case, she completely flipped. When I talked to the paramedics, they said if she'd kept going, she might've killed that man. Something about the situation set her off…"

"We need to look at her history. I only have access to the most recent records which place her in the Isolation Rehabilitation Facility."

Akane entered a search for Maekawa's records on her wrist holo. As she scanned it, her eyes widened.

"There's a report here… It was written by Kogami!"

"What?" Ginoza came to read the report over Akane's shoulder, but she proceeded to read it out loud.

"Division One of the MWPSB responded to a stress level alert when a street scanner detected a panicked student walking between her school and her home. The student was a first-year, fourteen-year-old female identified as one Tsubame Maekawa. Enforcer Masaoka found the girl and apprehended her. Since the suspect was a minor, the decision was made to release her into her parents' custody with the recommendation that she receive treatment from their family therapist right away."

Ginoza's eyes followed along as Akane continued on the next page.

"Three days later around 15:00:00 hours, a small yellow homing canary showed up at Nona Tower with a strip of paper tied to its leg. The note written on the paper was a call for help penned by Ms. Maekawa. Division One dispatched to the Maekawa home and forced entry into the apartment. After clearing the living room and discovering Mr. and Mrs. Maekawa deceased in the master bedroom, Enforcer Sasayama located Ms. Maekawa in her bedroom in the middle of an assault by a previously unidentified male. Instead of firing his Dominator, Enforcer Sasayama dropped his weapon and restrained the suspect, who sustained severe blunt force trauma to his face in the struggle. Enforcer Masaoka wrapped the victim in her comforter and carried her to the cruiser while Inspector Kogami discharged his Dominator two times; once in Paralyzer mode to subdue Enforcer Sasayama, and once in Execution mode at the culprit per the instruction of the SYBIL system."

Akane scrolled to the next page. Ginoza rubbed his eyes.

"The Dominator identified the criminal as thirty-five-year-old Akio Fujimoto, who was a biology instructor at Ms. Maekawa's Preparatory Academy. Upon further investigation, we discovered that Ms. Maekawa was an active member of Mr. Fujimoto's after school biology club. Post-mortem examination of Mr. and Mrs. Maekawa indicated that they were both killed in their sleep on the same night as Maekawa's original psycho pass spike. It is speculated that Mr. Fujimoto broke into the Maekawa home, killed Ms. Maekawa's parents, and kept her imprisoned in her room for three days. The initial rape kit performed at the hospital came back positive. Ms. Maekawa will receive rehabilitation treatment and hopefully return to school under the supervision of an area orphanage. Respectfully submitted, Shinya Kogami."

"She's the rape survivor from that story Ko used to tell about Sasayama…" Ginoza murmured. "No wonder she's so damn uncomfortable around everyone. Well Shion will certainly want to apologize for yesterday."

"You can't tell Kuranamori," Akane corrected him.

"What do you mean? The team needs to know what we're dealing with. She's a liability."

"Ginoza, she obviously didn't want anyone to know about it. Secrets like that aren't meant to just be dug up by your co-workers. It'll destroy her." Akane closed the screen and ran a hand through her pixie cut hair. "She's got to come to terms with it on her own."

"But, detective…"

"No buts, Ginoza. The best we can do is to gain her trust. Maybe having people who care about her can help her confront this. She's been on her own since she was fourteen and a good chunk of that time she spent in an isolation chamber. We're her best chance at a next to normal life for her. When she's ready to open up about it, she will. Just give her some time."

"Hmph. You didn't see her beating the pulp out of that man last night."

"No, I didn't, but I'm sure she felt like he deserved it. She saved the hostage. That's what matters. Sasayama did the same thing and from what I've heard of him he was a great man. Don't sell her short just because she's got some baggage. Everyone does."

Ginoza huffed as he walked away.

"Shift starts in two minutes."

"I'll be right there," Akane sighed, lighting a Spinel cigarette from the pack in her pocket. She watched it burn and inhaled the smell for a few moments before dampening the tip on the railing and then turning to follow Ginoza to the elevator.

Back in the office, Maekawa sat poking at her keyboard with her uninjured hand, the wrapped appendage set gently on the right arm of her chair. As he sat down in his chair, Ginoza began brainstorming ideas for helping Maekawa. He couldn't help but glance over at her now. He was surprised to see that she was also looking at him.

"Is something wrong, Ms. Maekawa?" He quirked an eyebrow.

"N-no, Mr. Ginoza," she dropped her head, a flash of pink embarrassment settling across her cheek bones. "Sorry, sir."

"Please, Maekawa, just call me Gino. I may be older than you, but we're equals in this office. There's no need for such titles."

"O-okay… Gino…" She peeked back at him through her hair which fell messily around her face. _He has Masaoka's eyes_. She reprimanded herself at the thought. _You're seeing things. Somehow you want this place to be comfortable and that's the best you have. _Ginoza's features softened a little. Even his sharp cheekbones distorted into a friendly smile.

_I hope you're right about this, Akane._

Ginoza lounged back in his chair and crossed one trousered knee over the other, locking his fingers politely in his lap.

"Are you feeling alright today? I'm sure yesterday was difficult for you."

_Now you're more concerned with how I feel than whether or not I understand the consequences?_

"I'm pretty exhausted. That's n-not really any different than any other day, th-though. Other than the throbbing in my h-hand, everything seems normal. My hue was blue-violet immediately after we ret-turned last night, but it's already recovered to a shade of l-lavender."

"Good to hear," Ginoza assured her.

"Enforcer Ginoza," Inspector Shimostuki interrupted, "Would you please come here and verify Inspector Tsunemori's report about the case last night? I need you to sign the form."

"Certainly, detective," he nodded, leaving his chair. Tsubame watched him walk over to the Inspector's desk with confusion. Ginoza's perceptiveness scared her. He gave off the vibe that he could tell what someone was thinking before they did.

Tsubame sighed a breath of relief as her work day came to an end. No alarms had sounded that day. She longed to be alone in her room. Ginoza had chatted casually with her the whole shift, and though she didn't think she minded it, it was still exhausting.

"Plans this evening?" Gino asked, leaning coolly against the wall near the elevator.

"Enforcers m-make plans?" Anxiety surged through her, leaving her arms feeling heavy.

"I was going to go work out for a bit. Would you care to join me?"

"Swear you'll w-w… keep all of your clothes on?" Frustration marred her face at her stutter, but Ginoza caught the joking tone in her voice. _Progress_.

"No promises." This made her throat dry up the way it does when you sleep with your mouth open. Ginoza shoved his hands in his pockets after pressing the button on the elevator that would take them to the locker rooms of the gym. "There should be some clean MWPSB practice clothing in the laundry room. Just find a set that fits and meet me out there?"

Tsubame nodded and ducked into the women's changing area. She chose the baggiest, most unflattering MWPSB sweatpants and t-shirt in the locker room before pulling her hair back in the mirror.

The gym was moderately sized with weights, a pair of treadmills, and a few combat drones lining the walls. Ginoza grunted as he threw a solid punch into the center of a giant swinging punching bag. He'd changed into a pair of black shorts with the Bureau of Public Safety's crest printed on one leg and a white cotton tank top. His human wrist was wrapped with white athletic tape. He noticed her out of the corner of his eye as he steadied the bag, panting.

"When your hand heals I'll teach you how to punch without breaking your bones," he chuckled breathlessly. "Do you know any combat techniques?"

She shook her head.

"You could've fooled me."

She laughed nervously.

"Would you like to learn?"

She nodded.

"Okay here, why don't you take this mock Dominator? When you point this at someone desperate enough, their first instinct may be to try to take it from you and incapacitate you in some manner. Walk towards me."

Tsubame took a hesitant step in Gino's direction. As she neared him, he grabbed the gun at Tsubame's hands, the sudden contact coming as a surprise to her. She dropped the fake gun and stepped away from him.

"Sorry… I d-didn't know you were g-going to grab m-me."

"It's okay. I can warn you first, if you'd prefer. You know that I'm not going to hurt you, right?" Ginoza knelt to pick up the prop and handed it back to her. "Try again?"

"Ok-kay."

"Just trust me. I want you to be more prepared in the field than you were yesterday… For your safety, and for the safety of everyone else."

She took the replica from him and pointed it again.

"I'm going to grab your wrists. The most useful parts of your body are your knees and your elbows. Try to keep me from taking your Dominator."

Ginoza wrapped his hands around Tsubame's much smaller ones. She held still as stone.

"Think it through. What will make me let go of you?"

After a few seconds of hesitation, Tsubame pulled her arms down with more force than Ginoza thought she was capable of, twisted under his grip, and swung her elbow up and into the side of his face, knocking him down and leaving his ears ringing. Tsubame gasped as Gino hit the floor and knelt next to him. His lip had split on his teeth.

"I'm so sorry! Are you okay? I didn't think I'd be able to break loose. I can't believe I hit you! You're bleeding…"

She reached out and placed her hand under his chin to tip his head in order to see his lip better under the light of the training room. He stiffened at her touch as their eyes met, his heart jumping to his throat.

"I'm fine, it's not like it hasn't happened before," he said flippantly. "You, erm, lost your stutter."

She blushed and dropped her hand.

"I g-guess I didn't feel all that v-vulnerable with you s-sitting on the ground with a busted l-lip."

"But you feel vulnerable now? Why?"

"I... I honestly d-don't know."

_I know the feeling…_ he thought. He stood and wiped the blood on his forearm.

"We'll have to cut our training session short, I'm afraid. I should probably go clean up. Back to the apartment?"

She nodded and left to change in the women's locker room, leaving him alone in the empty gym. He sighed and closed his eyes, exhaustion clouding his mind. The tightness in his chest made it harder to breathe. Though he wanted to help Tsubame, he knew getting close to her would be his downfall. _It always is._


	3. Something Unexpected

Ginoza rested his head on his hands as he lay in his bed, staring at the ceiling, willing himself to sleep instead of dwell on the emotions having an all-out war within his ribcage. He glanced at his nightstand, hoping to find something more distracting than the bland pattern of the ceiling. He winced.

_Why do I keep those photos there?_

Their innocence thinly veiled, two framed photographs stood guiltlessly facing him. His father smiled as Little Nobuchika sat on his shoulders. Kogami and Sasayama shared the other frame with a young Inspector Ginoza. He did his best to swallow the panic attack filling his chest, threatening to collapse his lungs, but he found that there was already no space to take a breath. He shot up and folded over in pain, hugging his knees to his chest. Tears streamed and he choked on them.

_Damnit, get it together Ginoza. You need sleep._

A sob escaped him, and that was it. He found himself gasping for air, unable to control the pain emanating from his chest. He felt the sudden urge to run; to put as much distance between himself and the PSB as possible.

_Too many memories… There is just too much loss here… I can't do it anymore… Every time I get close to someone… They leave me…_

He was startled by a timid knock at his door.

"G-Ginoza?"

He checked the time on his wristband.

04:36:17

_Why is she still awake?_

It had been several days since the training accident and the team had captured a handful of anti-culture protesters the day before. There'd been a long foot pursuit and the day had been emotionally grueling as well. Inspector Akane had shoved Ginoza out of the way of a brick aimed at his face and had ended up in the infirmary with a concussion and an earful from Inspector Shimotsuki about how the Enforcers are supposed to be shields.

Gino took a deep breath and subdued his panic momentarily; long enough to stand and answer the door. He mindfully grabbed a t-shirt on his way and pulled it over his head.

"Ms. Maekawa, is everything okay?" His voice betrayed his exhaustion, and a hint of his anguish.

"I was actually going to ask you the same thing. I heard you from the common room. The door to the hallway was open. Are you worried about Inspector Tsunemori?"

He was shocked at her sudden transformation from timid Tsubame to concerned Tsubame. Her expression was identical to the one she'd given him when she'd elbowed him in the face. His heart tore itself in two, half of it throwing itself against the front of his chest to draw him nearer to her and share some of his pain, and the other half diving deep into the pit of his stomach to shield itself from getting attached.

"No, I know she'll be fine. She all but slapped Mika in the face when we were up in the hospital room…" He looked away from her down the hallway to the open door. "Why are you up so late?"

"Can't sleep," she muttered. "Tea? The teapot should be close."

He nodded and followed her to the kitchenette where the tiny ceramic kettle was whistling on the stove. She grabbed it before setting out a second mug for Ginoza and pulling a box of pre-packaged tea from the cabinet.

"Sleepy Time? Or something else?"

"I'll take whatever you're making," he replied, pressing his fingers to the bridge of his nose.

"Echinacea it is," she decided aloud.

"Sore throat?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah," she admitted. "Sore everything, really. I think I'm getting sick."

"Maybe you should make an appointment in the infirmary?"

"I'd rather not… I don't like the smell…"

"It does smell a bit like a Rehab Facility, doesn't it?"

Tsubame looked over her shoulder at him as she dipped the tea bags into the steaming mugs. She was half surprised he guessed so easily, and half relieved she didn't have to explain. After the initial wave of comfort washed over her, she brought the drinks over to where Ginoza sat at the island and took the seat next to him. Somehow his presence with her at that moment was relaxing.

"It's hot," she cautioned. Ginoza sipped from the brim of the mug anyway, the sting on his lip almost too painful to bear. _But painful enough to distract me from pain elsewhere_. "So, why were you crying?"

"I wasn't crying," he lied.

"You're good at a lot of things, Gino. Lying isn't one of them."

He sighed.

"I'd rather not talk about why."

"Fair," she nodded. "Would you feel more comfortable talking about what instead? Tell me about the feeling instead of the reason."

It was a ploy her therapists had used to open her up when she was still living in the orphanage. Her mind always seemed to clear up when she was able to transfer her feelings to someone else. She could feel Ginoza's anxiety hanging in the air between them, but she wanted to understand it better so that she could maybe feel comfortable like this around him all the time. It had been a long time since she'd been able to spend time with people on her own time and of her own volition, and in meditating over it, she discovered she actually missed it.

"You're hard to figure out, Maekawa," he smiled into his tea, his human hand propping up his head. "One day you can barely look me in the eye, and then the next, you're trying to get me to open up to you. What's that all about?"

"I asked my question first," she persuaded, hoping he'd give it a rest.

"I suppose…" He took another sip from his drink. "It's anxiety. And depression, I guess. That's what they tell me, anyway. My 'introverted tendencies' don't help me either… Or so I'm told. Truthfully, I'm probably the least introverted Enforcer in the Division, and yet, I seem to be the only one suffering from my introversion. Yayoi has Shion, Sho has his virtual world to escape to, and Akane…"

"So you feel alone?"

"Yeah, I guess you could say that."

She mulled that over for a few seconds before glancing back over at him. His prosthetic hand had found a death grip on the edge of the counter.

"I've been alone for a while too," she offered. "I didn't realize how much I hated it until I was allowed to be with people again."

"Well don't think it goes away when you're around people. People are the ones who cause it, really. You get attached, you acclimate to them, and then they just… leave…" His sad eyes crashed into her concern-laden irises, momentarily finding comfort in the hazelnut warmth of them. He shook his head and stood. "Sorry. You shouldn't listen to me. I'm just a poorly socialized dog who's mad at the world. I swear my bark is worse than my bite. If you'll excuse me, I should really get some sleep. You should too."

He retreated to his room, angry with himself for pushing her away, but also for allowing her to lure him out of his reverie with the promise of relationship. _No good comes from it, Nobuchika. You know that. Push them all away. It's not worth the pain._

* * *

The next day saw Division One Enforcers sitting in the back of a paddy wagon behind a cruiser transporting their Inspectors across town to collaborate on the mysterious disappearance of a seven-year-old from an area park. With no recorded stress level increase, it would appear that the girl left willingly with a well-intending citizen, or other forces were at play. As they unloaded the paddy wagon in the middle of the day, the gathered crowd, who'd stayed mainly to help search for the child, gawked at the Enforcers. Inspector Shimotsuki begrudgingly authorized the Enforcers to carry the department's non-lethal electrified night sticks, making a comment about hunting dogs needing to watch their manners in the daylight. Tsubame shared a deeply irritated look with Yayoi while Sho rolled his eyes and tested the weight of the weapon in his hand. Ginoza took the stick from her and promptly walked away to join Akane, who was gathering intel from the girl's grandfather. He wore his black overcoat with the collar popped up around his neck.

The old man gave Ginoza a suspicious glare as he walked up, but continued to relay information to Akane. It was when Ginoza started asking questions about the man's granddaughter that he became red in the face and the insults started flying. The man's stress level sky-rocketed and a drone's alert function activated. Akane ordered Ginoza to return to the paddy wagon and tried to diffuse the man's anger. Mika shouted for all of the Enforcers to load in. Once inside, Yayoi asked Ginoza what happened.

"I asked him where he'd last seen his granddaughter. He didn't know. I then asked him what she was wearing and what color her hair is. When he couldn't remember I suggested that perhaps his memories of bringing the girl to the park were wrong. When he elevated so quickly, it just proved my point. I told Akane to look into the man's medical history. I'd bet my Crime Coefficient that he's in mid to late stages of Alzheimer's. His granddaughter was never at the park. He may not even have a granddaughter."

Ginoza's wristband blinked open to a call from Akane.

"I don't know how you just pegged all that, but you're right. We just called the man's son. He's coming to pick him up and take him to their family therapist. Good work, Mr. Ginoza. If Division Four had an Enforcer with your detective skills, we could've saved ourselves the trip." She hung up promptly and the paddy wagon began moving again. The rocking of the vehicle was therapeutic in a way. Having slept less than a couple hours a night since arriving at Nona Tower, Tsubame's consciousness began to fade. A few minutes into the transport, she was fighting the weight of her eyelids. Her struggle went unnoticed by Sho and Yayoi, who'd found entertainment in the form of news and social media via their wristbands, but Ginoza watched, amused, from the corner of his eye. He leaned back against the seat and prepared himself to reach over and keep her from hitting her head on the wall.

"Tired?" he mumbled.

She barely had the energy to nod her response. He removed his coat, folded it, and placed it in his lap.

"Here, it's a forty-five minute drive back home. You should take a nap."

She hesitated, searching his eyes for the answer to a silent, pleading question.

_Can I trust you?_

He smiled warmly and made sure his bionic arm was out of the way, then patted the coat with his human hand.

"Okay. Th-thanks," she whispered. Initially she lay rigid across his lap, but as sleep engulfed her, her muscles gave in to the overwhelming force of her exhaustion. Yayoi looked up from her screen long enough to quirk a suspicious eyebrow at Ginoza, but returned to her reading when he didn't respond. To be honest, he was too busy staying as still as possible to keep from waking his sleeping co-worker. _She needs to rest, especially if she doesn't plan on seeing the MWPSB medical staff about her throat_.

Back at the Tower, Maekawa was out cold. A light drizzle had started to fall from the overcast Tokyo sky, and Ginoza hated the idea of waking Tsubame, so he carefully lifted her from his lap, wrapped her in his coat, and carried her out of the paddy wagon. Mika, who'd come to the back of the vehicle to open the door, threw a dirty look at the four of them.

"What the Hell? Sleeping on a call?"

"We were returning from a call," Yayoi corrected. "And Ms. Maekawa is off in five minutes."

Kagari's voice echoed in Ginoza's memory.

_Lay off, Inspector. Enforcers are just as human as anyone else. We're just a little more likely to go off the deep end_. Ginoza laughed to himself. _In that case, shouldn't we be allowed to sleep whenever we want?_

Akane barely noticed the group as she walked over to the front door. Her face was stoic, but her body language indicated otherwise. Ginoza made a mental note to check in on her after delivering Tsubame to the apartment.

"Something amusing, Mr. Ginoza?" Mika grumbled.

"Yes, but if I told you, it'd be less amusing," he answered, shrugging. He shuffled past her, Maekawa cradled carefully against his human shoulder, and made his way into the tower. Several awkward stares and an elevator lift later, he was finally at the door to the Division One common room. His robotic arm held Tsubame's legs easily, but his uninjured shoulder had begun to cramp. He did his best not to jerk her around as he reached into his pocket for his key card. The door scanner activated, checked both the Enforcer's hues, and granted them entrance into the room.

Ginoza decided it was best not to disturb Tsubame by lifting her hand and opening the door to her room. He also figured she'd freak out a bit if she found out he'd entered uninvited. So, he laid her down on the couch, adjusting his jacket so that it lay on top of her. He stood over her for a few seconds to make sure she was still asleep before turning to leave. As his hand touched the door, a raspy voice called his name from the couch. Tsubame had sat up and was peeking at him from behind the back of the sofa.

"Thank you, Ginoza," she smiled. A pang in his chest told him simultaneously to return to her and to hide from her penetrating gaze. It felt as though she could see right through him, and that genuinely frightened him. _How on Earth does a teenage Isolation patient gain such analytical social skills?_ He decided not to dwell on it.

"You're welcome. You should get some rest. I need to go speak with Inspector Tsunemori."

"I'll wait for you to get back… Are you hungry?"

"A little. Just fire up the holo and have it decide what I need to eat. I'll be right back," he promised. She waved meekly and stood to pull up the holo that the Enforcers normally kept in sleep mode. After a day in the office, the group of them had little patience for the floating blue squid. Ginoza was happy that he shut the door in time to avoid it recognizing him. To his surprise, Akane was walking towards him down the hall.

"Detective, do you have a moment?"

"Even if I didn't, I feel like you'd take one anyway. What's up?" Her voice was strained, which worried him.

"Are you doing alright? You seem stressed."

She chuckled to herself.

"I just can't seem to catch a break with Shimotsuki, is all. She's been riding my case for months. If I could smack her, Gino, I swear I would."

"I seem to recall hitting you once to bring you back to reality," he laughed.

"A memory scoop and being obnoxious are hardly the same thing," Akane replied.

"A slap to the face seems useful in both scenarios, though. I've got to say, though, my assault on you was more for your benefit than mine. That's the major difference I suppose."

"You've become quite the rebel, Mr. Ginoza."

"I wouldn't say that. I've just learned to restrain myself less," he admitted. "Only Inspectors need filters. There's no necessity for an Enforcer to be tactful. As a matter of fact, maybe I'll call Mika out myself on the next mission. You should put me on her task force."

"I'll remember that," she laughed. "Just make sure you don't go getting yourself paralyzed."

"No promises."

"Of course not," she sighed, shaking her head. "Is Ms. Maekawa alright? I was on my way up to check on her. I noticed you carrying her out of the paddy wagon."

"She's fine. She just doesn't sleep much. I've actually come across her sitting up in the common room most nights this week at ridiculous hours."

"So you don't sleep either, then?"

"Not a whole lot," he shrugged.

"Uh-huh… Well, you should both cut that out. We don't have the man-power to have two sick Enforcers."

"You got it, Missy," he winked. He momentarily reminded her of Masaoka, which made her smile.

"Goodnight, Mr. Ginoza," she waved. He watched her walk back to the elevator before re-entering the apartment. Tsubame was sitting in front of two plates of hibachi style steak.

"I couldn't get the damn thing to listen, so it made us a fancier dinner than I intended. Hope you're hungry."

The little squid bounced over to Ginoza and began bombarding him with questions about his stress levels, Crime Coefficient, and nutritional supplementation. It made an embarrassing comment about synthesizing some candles to improve the lighting in the common room before he shouted at it to go back to sleep. Tsubame blushed and stared at her dinner.

"I swear those stupid things are programmed to match make any person they come into contact with. For the longest time it was convinced that Kagari and Kogami were perfect for each other. I can see now why Kogami almost had it uninstalled."

"Kogami?" Tsubame looked up at Gino as he sat down next to her at the island.

"He was a Division One Enforcer a long time ago," Ginoza answered. For a moment, he forgot that Kogami had been the Inspector on Tsubame's case ten years ago. When he remembered, he glanced over at her to check her reaction.

"Were there two Division One employees named Kogami?" she asked.

"No. Enforcer Kogami was formerly Inspector Shinya Kogami. He was… my best friend at one point in time…" Ginoza's every instinct told him to change the subject. This could get painful for both of them.

"That's interesting," she mused, poking at her dinner. But she didn't share whatever thoughts she was entertaining. She yawned as she pushed her food around her plate.

"You aren't very hungry, are you?" he noted.

She shook her head. After years of eating as little food as she could stand, mainly because it was disgusting, she found that she couldn't stomach more than a few bites of normal food at a time. Ginoza grabbed her plate and placed it in the refrigerator.

"It's just as good reheated," he promised. "Sleep is more important."

"Says you," she challenged.

"From experience, skipping out on sleep isn't the best idea in this line of work. It was a major contributor to my demotion, among other things."

"Since you're so convincing, I suppose I could go _try_ to fall asleep," she laughed. It was the first time he'd ever heard her speak so light-heartedly. Even her eyes lit up above a genuine smile. Distracted, he dropped his dirty plate and it shattered on the floor.

"Damnit," he cursed himself, sighing. "I really don't want to turn the holo back on to get rid of this."

Maekawa was already on her feet walking around the island.

"I'll help. At least it stayed in some pretty big pieces. We'll just have to have the holo check it in the morning." She bent down to grab a bit of ceramic.

Ginoza knelt as well to help pick up the plate he'd destroyed. He hadn't really broken anything like that since he first started getting the hang of his prosthetic arm. He'd smashed several coffee mugs before finally mastering the control of it. He reached out to grab a jagged piece with his human hand and found his target to be much smoother than he'd been anticipating. He jerked away when he realized he'd grabbed Tsubame's hand instead.

"Ah, sorry. I didn't realize your hand was there."

She held the piece he'd been reaching for with an iron grip, the sudden contact startling her. It took her a few seconds to notice the light bleeding from the cut she'd acquired.

"Shit. I'm such a klutz," she blushed.

"I'll go get a bandage. You should clean that out," he instructed. He rushed to the bathroom to grab a medical wrap from the first aid box under the sink. When he returned, he found her wincing with her hand held under a stream of water from the faucet. "You'll have to dry it off and then I'll wrap it up," he told her. She grabbed a dish towel from a drawer and dabbed at her throbbing hand. She hesitated before holding her hand out to him.

"It hurts," she whined.

"It'll be fine. It's not very deep and the edges match up well. I don't think you'll need stitches from the infirmary, but you should probably go get a regimen of antibiotics at some point tomorrow."

"We'll s-see about that."

"Up to you." He finished wrapping the bandage around her palm. She watched him intently, prepared to yank her hand away if he pulled the fabric too tight. Relief flooded her as he tied it off at the back of her hand.

"Thank you, Gino."

"No problem," he sighed.

"Ginoza?"

"Hmm?"

"You're, uh, s-still holding my h-hand…"

It was his turn to blush as he dropped her bandaged hand and clasped his hands behind his back. The cold sensation in his human palm from his metal hand was an unpleasant change.

"Sorry. I'm pretty tired myself. I'll see you in the morning?"

"Sure thing," she smiled.

He turned to leave her, but stopped short at the door to the hallway.

"Hey, Maekawa." She looked up at him expectantly. "That confidence suits you." He looked back at her over his shoulder. "I'm glad you're feeling more comfortable here. I think you'll come to like the job."

She just smiled stupidly as the door closed behind him. _What a strange man._


	4. Secrets

The next few weeks were dull for Division One. Hinakawa kept everyone entertained by hacking into the office mailroom drone and programming it to shoot mail at Mika, unbeknownst to her, of course. The Inspectors were normally the only ones who received mail anyway, with the exception of the occasional letter to Hinakawa from his mother. Today was no different.

"Ginoza, did you file that maintenance report yesterday like I told you to do?! This thing is trying to kill me!" She collected the mail and glared at Ginoza.

"I did. The maintenance office said that it delivers mail just fine to all the other Bureau employees." Ginoza shot an amused look at Sho, who chuckled and returned to his computer screen. As Shimotsuki shuffled through the envelopes, she stopped to look at one with a hand written address. Most mail that came through the office was addressed using the typed envelopes from the post office to prevent important notices from being sent to the wrong location. Mika set the other envelopes down and opened the suspicious parcel.

"Anything interesting?" Akane asked, not looking up.

"Just some strange handwritten letter. Who does that anymore?"

"Huh?" Akane made her way over to Mika to take a look. Her mind reeled at the jagged script on the folded lined paper. She'd seen it before.

**All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.**

"What does that even mean?" Mika handed the paper to Akane.

"Beats me…" Internally she panicked. It was a sign she'd waited years to receive and now that she'd seen it, she had no idea what it meant.

"It sounds really familiar," Ginoza offered. "May I take a look at it?"

He made his way over to stand next to Akane.

"I'm not getting anything on my Internet search," Tsubame reported.

"Maybe you're using the wrong Internet, Sis," Sho suggested, pulling up a new window on his computer. He hacked through the Ministry computer's administrative settings, blocked his IP address, and jumped on a browser. The page he pulled up contained lists of various links. He clicked the third one down and skimmed it. "It's a quote out of a Western novella by George Orwell… _Animal Farm_?"

"Never heard of it," Mika replied.

"I know someone who has," Akane declared. "Ginoza, Kunizuka, you're going with me. Hinakawa, could you see if you can find a copy of that book somewhere online? Maekawa, you can stay here and help Inspector Shimotsuki. I'll be back before your shift is over."

Maekawa's stomach churned uncomfortably. Shimotsuki didn't seem to like her very much, not that she was overly fond of any of the Enforcers. She forced a nod anyway and sighed to calm herself as she watched the three of them leave the office.

* * *

Akane loaded the Enforcers into a Division One cruiser and set the destination for the Rehab facility. Ginoza sat in the front passenger seat while Yayoi waited patiently for an explanation in the back.

"We're going to see Saiga," Akane declared.

"I'll stay outside then," Ginoza sulked. _He reminds me too much of Kogami. I don't need to be getting worked up_.

"Oh, come on Mr. Ginoza. Mr. Saiga isn't that bad."

"Says you. Your hue never clouds. It has more ill-effects than just the social implications, Akane. Being cloudy doesn't feel very good."

"I'll go in with you, Akane," Yayoi offered.

"Thanks," the detective sighed. "Ginoza you can stay in the cruiser as long as you don't go anywhere. Yayoi and I will be right back."

The cruiser pulled into a parking spot and turned itself off. The girls got out and made their way inside. Ginoza reclined his seat all the way back so that he could watch the sky through the back window. It was a windy autumn day, but the clouds in the sky were fluffy and white. _All animals are equal_, he thought, _but some are more equal than others… I know that's right,_ he scoffed internally. _Enforcers and Inspectors are humans, but the Inspectors have more freedoms and worth than any of the Enforcers. I can't believe it took me becoming a dog to understand that. If only Masaoka could see me now. Maybe he'd be proud. _

Ginoza dozed off in his comfortable position in the front seat. He wasn't sure how much time had passed, but when Akane and Yayoi returned, the sun was setting.

"Was he helpful?" Ginoza reset his seatback and looked over at the Inspector.

"Yes and no..." Akane pulled out her pen and a notepad and scribbled a note to Ginoza. She set the pad in his lap and turned the cruiser on.

The letter has to be from Kogami.

Ginoza's eyes widened, but he kept his mouth closed. If Akane didn't feel that it was safe to discuss out loud in the car, then he would wait until they were back at the Tower. By the time they returned, however, Akane's shift was over. In the parking garage, she stopped the Enforcers and pulled them aside around a wall.

"Don't tell Inspector Shimotsuki. Sho and Tsubame don't need to know either. If we want to keep Ko safe, he needs to stay hidden until whatever he's planning pans out the way he wants it to," she hissed. "We need to play along with him."

They both nodded. Ginoza felt a strange peace wash over him as he realized he might actually get to see his friend again and properly apologize for being such an ass to him over the years.

"What do you want me to tell Shimotsuki?" Yayoi asked.

"That Saiga didn't have any leads."

* * *

"So where did the Inspector take you and Kunizuka?" Tsubame lay across the sofa with her hair hanging over the arm. It almost fell all the way to the floor.

"To see an old mentor," Ginoza responded. "He wasn't able to offer much assistance, though."

"Ah. I see." She scooted so that her head hung backwards off the side of the couch and she could see him. "So now what?"

"We wait," Ginoza shrugged. He walked over to the living room and plopped down in the armchair, a bag of pistachios in his robot hand. He plucked one out and cracked it open before dropping the core of it into his mouth.

"Hm." Tsubame seemed anxious to him. She fidgeted where she lounged on the couch.

"Are you alright?"

"Busy mind. Nothing I do seems to help."

"I know the feeling…" His eyes searched the room for something they could do to keep them occupied, since neither of them felt like sleeping. "Have you ever played chess?"

"A few times, when I was little. My father taught me. Do we have a chess board?"

"I do. It was my father's. It's one of the old ones with actual glass pieces and a real board. I'll go get it." Ginoza stood and walked to his room, pulled the chess set from a book shelf, and brought it back to the living room. The box he carried had the board on top of it and all of the pieces were stored inside. He sat cross-legged on the floor and set the board up for them. She rolled off the couch lazily and lay on her stomach across from him. With the board set out between them, Ginoza offered for her to make the first move.

"You go first," she insisted. He took a Pawn and inched it forward. After much internal debate, Tsubame chose her first move. After an hour of gameplay, Tsubame and Ginoza were at a standstill. It was her turn, but she was trying to find a move that wouldn't sacrifice one of her pieces. She'd yet to lose one.

"It might be in your interest to sacrifice one piece. You might get the chance to open a hole in my defense." He chuckled internally. Instead of moving her pieces to gain the advantage, Tsubame had been reacting to his moves defensively. He'd set her up almost perfectly to knock his way through and take her Queen.

"I know… My dad used to tell me the same thing. I just hate sacrificing my Pawns. I know they aren't super useful… but for some reason I feel sorry for them. Like… I'm sure if they had the chance, they wouldn't have chosen to be Pawns when they could've been a Knight or a Rook… Or even the King or Queen… Silly, huh?" She looked up at him with sad eyes.

"Not at all," he mumbled. As he looked over the board, he wondered what piece he'd be if the MWPSB was a team of chess pieces… If SIBYL was the King, then who were the Pawns? Was Kogami a Knight? Was Masoaka a Bishop? Tsubame tilted her head at him, wondering what he was thinking.

"Sorry, I ruined the game, didn't I?"

"No, I was just thinking about it. It's an interesting thought."

"I guess I'll move my piece then." She pushed one of her pawns forward, placing it in the striking range of Ginoza's clear-space Bishop. He took her pawn, putting her Rook at risk. When she moved the castle-shaped piece across the board, Ginoza moved his Queen into the newly vacated row, taking one of Tsubame's Knights in the process. After she retaliated with a Pawn for Pawn exchange, he pushed his own Rook across the board to take her other Knight. In a few more moves, her King and Queen were cornered.

"I believe that's a checkmate," he noted. She nodded, studying the board.

"You're good."

"Ha, I wouldn't say that. I never once beat my father."

"Did the two of you play a lot?"

He leaned back on his hands and closed his eyes.

"Not much after his demotion… But when I was really little he'd play a game with me every day after work."

"Demotion?" Tsubame began collecting her pieces and placing them back inside the chess board.

Ginoza bit his tongue. _Crap. I forgot she knew him. This might not end well._

"Erm… Yes… He worked for the MWPSB as well… In this Division…"

"Are you okay, Ginoza? You look worried."

"It's just…" He hesitated. He'd always been a crap liar. "I don't really know how to talk to you about my father."

"It's okay. I want to hear about him." She smiled.

"Part of me thinks you probably don't."

She scowled.

"Why?"

He sighed and covered his face with his hands. Peeking through his fingers didn't help. Her concerned expression told him that he wouldn't be getting away with just clamming up and retreating to his room. Muffled behind his palms, his response sounded almost painful as he choked it out.

"You… knew my father… And I don't know exactly how your last interaction with him made you feel, but I'm sure you don't want to talk about it with me, and will probably be pissed that I even know about it."

"I… knew him?" Maekawa blinked at Ginoza, unable to decipher his answer. _How is that even possible? I don't know anyone with Ginoza's last name besides him_.

"My father's name was Tomomi Masaoka. He was one of the Enforcers who responded to the stress level alert the day that… Well…" His voice tapered off. The shock on Tsubame's face silenced him completely.

"M-Masaoka was your father?" She looked down at her hands. "Wait… How do you know about what happened to me? I was told the file was closed."

"It is… to the public… Akane has the authorization to access it in our database. I sort of… asked her to look it up…"

Tsubame's cheeks flushed pink as she stood. He full well expected her to slap him, but instead she walked silently past him to the door to the hallway.

"Maekawa, wait…"

She didn't look back at him. He heard her bedroom door slide open and closed. Once he was sure she wasn't coming back out, he flopped backwards in defeat on the floor. _Way to go, Ginoza._

He lay there staring at the ceiling until Yayoi entered the apartment. When she saw him sprawled on the floor, she ran over to make sure he was alright.

"Where's Maekawa?"

He pointed to the hallway.

"Is she sleeping?"

He shrugged.

"What happened? You look miserable."

"Miserable might as well be my middle name, Yayoi. It's the only thing I'm good at."

With that, Ginoza stood, grabbed his chess board, and walked to his room to put it away. Yayoi followed him down the hallway.

"What are you doing back anyway? Shift change isn't until the morning."

"I needed a breather. Shimotsuki is driving me crazy."

"Join the club," Ginoza groaned.

"I founded it," she reminded him. She _had_ been the one to comfort Mika all those years ago when her friends had been killed by Rikaku Orio. And that didn't prevent Mika's snide comments from targeting her one bit.

"Right…" He rubbed his eyes. "I need to get some sleep. If you see Maekawa, please tell her that I'm really sorry. I'm sure I'm the last person she wants to talk to."

"What'd you do?"

"I know something she didn't want me to know," he admitted. "It's complicated."

"Everything with you is complicated," Yayoi said pointedly.

"Not helping."

"Sorry. If I see her I'll let her know. Goodnight Ginoza."

"Night…"


	5. Unsettled Spark

Tsubame didn't so much as look at Ginoza for three days. She avoided Akane at all costs as well. As betrayed as she felt, she found it hard to stay away from the two of them, but how could she handle the embarrassment? Her encounter with Mr. Fujimoto was never supposed to get out. It was violating enough that it happened. Now her co-workers knew about it.

_They pity me. No wonder Ginoza was trying to teach me self-defense. He's been overly kind to me since day one. How long has he known? Maybe he thinks I'm an easy target._

She glanced at him from her desk. He looked as exhausted as she felt. She bitterly hoped he was losing sleep over upsetting her. He nodded off as he sat in his chair.

"Ginoza, you aren't paid to sleep on the job," Mika barked as she walked by.

"I'm not paid at all," he grumbled. The three of them were on night-shift, which Tsubame found to be somewhat enjoyable. At least she wasn't laying alone in her room terrified that someone would break into it and attack her.

"I beg to differ. Freedom's a pretty good income if you ask me."

"I didn't," he growled.

Tsubame had never seen him so hostile. She started to feel bad. _Maybe I should apologize_. Her heart told her yes, but her pride tied her to her chair. _What do I need to apologize for? Being raped? Wanting some privacy?_ She steeled her resolve and turned back to her computer screen.

The hours ticked by in silence. When Akane reported for the morning shift, Tsubame was startled by the door.

"Good morning," she greeted them.

A sour Tsubame and grouchy Ginoza simultaneously ignored her.

"Ohhkay…" She set her bag down on her desk and took her seat.

"See you this afternoon," Mika called over her shoulder. When the door closed behind her the three of them let out a cumulative sigh of relief.

"She's actually unbearable," Ginoza grumbled.

"I'm sure Enforcers used to say that about you, Mr. Ginoza," Akane laughed. Ginoza checked the time on his wristband.

"I wonder if Shion turned off Yayoi's alarm again. Do you mind if I go?"

"You can wait for Kunizuka and Hinakawa. They're only a few minutes late."

A few seconds later, Yayoi and Sho entered the room. Ginoza got up and walked silently past them. Yayoi glanced between him and Tsubame. Before sitting down at her desk, she knelt next to Maekawa.

"Hey, I know that Ginoza messed up, but I also know that he's pretty hard on himself. If you could find the ability to forgive him, it'll help him a lot."

"Noted," Tsubame grumbled. She stood and walked out the office door. Ginoza was entering the elevator down the hallway. She sighed before calling out to him to hold the door. When she stepped on the elevator, he shifted as far away from her as possible.

"Ginoza… I'm sorry I got so upset with you. It's just that, that report…" She blinked back tears. "What happened to me that day… I'm not over it. I d-don't think I'll ever b-be. When you said you r-read about it… I just…" She crumpled beneath her panic. Ginoza joined her on the floor of the elevator and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Why are you apologizing to me? I should be the one asking for your forgiveness. I stuck my nose where it didn't belong. I should've just asked you about it."

Teary-eyed, she looked up at him and felt a familiar calm wash over her.

"You have Masoaka's eyes," she murmured.

He cleared his throat and looked away nervously. The door to the elevator opened and Ginoza offered his hand to help her up.

"Thank you, Ginoza."

He dipped his head and led the way down the hall to the apartment.

"I'm exhausted," he yawned.

"I noticed. Not sleeping?"

"Not well. You?"

"Not at all," she admitted. "I'm not comfortable alone in my room. The best sleep I've had since leaving Isolation was five days ago in the paddy wagon…"

"What's wrong with your room?"

"It's the window," she squeaked, embarrassed. "I know we're up way too high for anyone to break in… but…" She was struggling to subdue her panic attack.

"It's okay. I understand." He reached out to brush a tear from her cheek, but regretted it when she flinched away. He froze. "Sorry. That was stupid."

"No, it's okay. I want to work on it. I don't want to be afraid of people anymore."

She focused on watching his face while he gently placed his hand on her cheek. His warm hand smelled soothingly clean, and she couldn't help but notice the gentleness despite his callouses. Ginoza tried to find somewhere to focus on her face, but kept feeling himself being pulled toward her big, brown, doe eyes. When he realized the draw of them he looked down only to become fixated on her mouth. His breath hitched and his heart fluttered in his chest, but he forbade himself from leaning forward to kiss her. _That's the last thing both of us needs. _

"Good?" he checked, slightly breathless. She nodded. "Good. Let's get you to bed. Afternoon shift starts in eight hours."

They walked together through the common room to the hallway and stopped at her door.

"Ginoza… Do you think you could stay with me until I fall asleep? I feel safe when I'm around you, and I _really_ want to rest." She looked dejectedly at her doorframe.

"I think I can do that," he agreed. "But just until you're asleep."

He followed her through the door and sat in her desk chair. She changed using her costume device into an oversized shirt and flannel pajama pants.

"You're sure you're comfortable with me sitting here?"

"To be honest, I feel more comfortable right now than I have in a long time. Sorry if that's off-putting. I just have a hard time doing the whole alone thing when my room isn't secured like it was at the rehab facility. Is that weird?" She slid under her blankets.

"Not really," he shrugged. "It's just kind of contradictory that _I'm_ the one who makes you feel better. I could go get Yayoi if you'd prefer."

She shook her head. "She's working. Even if she wasn't, you're just as good, if not a little better. Yayoi and I aren't close… Truthfully, you're sort of my best friend. Granted, my options are limited…"

"Now _that's_ weird," he laughed.

"Yes you are. Now I'm going to bed. Night." She flopped back onto her pillow and curled up under the comforter. "Thanks again, Ginoza."

"You're welcome."

He stayed until he was sure she was sound asleep. Creeping out of her room and down the hall to his was the single most important thing he'd felt he'd done all week. _Sleep is a blessing, and we both certainly need one of those._ For the first time in weeks, he was out as soon as his head hit the pillow.

* * *

A knock came at Ginoza's door much too soon. He rolled out of his bed, hair disheveled and button-down wrinkled, and staggered over to the door to open it.

"Hey," Maekawa said as he answered the door. "I just noticed you were still asleep and figured you might want to shower. You still have an hour."

"Thanks."

"I'll be out in the common room."

He nodded, shut his door and grabbed his costume device before walking to the bathroom he shared with Sho. The holo menu appeared on the shower door and he tapped his preferred setting before stepping into the water now falling from the shower head. Suds filled his hair and washed away down his body. He let the water run over him, his arms limp at his side. He found himself thinking through different chess moves from his game with Maekawa at the beginning of that week. It was strange how easily she'd played into his strategy. The most interesting part was how she did it knowingly, just to protect her Pawns. His thoughts turned to Kogami. There was no doubt in his mind that Kogami had a plan. There was also no doubt that Akane planned to play right into his hand. Whatever Kogami had in mind, Ginoza hoped that he and his friends were more important to the Players than his Pawns had been to him.

He was interrupted from his reverie by the sound of the holo blaring a warning and the smell of something burning. He grabbed a towel and raced to the kitchenette to find a flustered Maekawa attempting to shout the holo away, telling it that yes, she did know something was on fire. Ginoza began to smile as Maekawa finished beating down the flames coming from the pan on the stovetop. She looked up, her cheeks flushed.

"I t-tried to cook you l-luch because you had been s-so nice to me, b-but I never really l-learned, and the damn holo…" The realization that he was wearing only a towel shut her up. She turned away from him, embarrassed.

"Sorry. I didn't really have time to grab my costume device." He blushed and walked back to the bathroom, chuckling to himself. By the time he'd returned Maekawa was sulking over the pan she'd toasted.

"What were you making, anyway?" His hair was still wet, but he was now properly dressed.

"You're going to laugh," she mumbled.

"No I won't. Promise."

She looked feebly up at him.

"I was just going to make some rice…"

"In a sauce pan?"

He stifled a giggle.

"See?! I told you you'd laugh!" But his smile was contagious. She chuckled at the obvious mistake she'd made. "I just thought it would cook faster in a shallower pan…"

"You were right," he retorted, the amusement shining in his eyes.

Maekawa lost control and doubled over into a giggling fit, which weakened Ginoza to the point that he was struggling to stand. When she snorted, he fell to the ground.

"I can't remember the last time I laughed this hard," he admitted, trying to quiet the spasms in his chest. She crawled around the island just enough to look at him lying on his back on the tile.

"I don't think I ever _have_," she smiled.

"First time for everything," he shrugged.

"I mean, I did just try to cook."

A beep on both their wristbands interrupted them. They answered at the same time.

"We need you in the office." It was Akane. "Hurry."

Ginoza and Maekawa rushed to the Division One office. They found Akane, Yayoi, and Sho huddled over Akane's desk. Mika had not yet reported for her shift. On the desk lay another hand-addressed, open envelope, and a new letter.

**Whenever that form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundations on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to affect their safety and happiness.**

"What is this?" Ginoza asked.

"It came in the mail this morning. The mail drone arrived before Mika today, so it delivered to Akane." Yayoi looked to the Inspector.

"She can't see it," she breathed. "Kunizuka, I need you to keep this with you. Lock it up. We'll talk about it later. Ginoza, go meet Inspector Shimotsuki in the hallway. I'm sure she's almost here. Distract her long enough for Yayoi to get to the elevator. Hinakawa, take my personal holo screen with you back to the apartment and delete all record of that letter."

The three of them nodded and turned to attend to their tasks. Tsubame stayed at Akane's side.

"I need you to just go about your business like nothing is wrong, Maekawa. Like I said, we'll talk later. Right now our focus is to keep Shimotsuki from suspecting that anything is different."

She nodded and sat down at her computer to pull up the Ministry's recommended news. Unsurprisingly, everything in Tokyo was perfect as always. No mention of any of the handful of crimes the PSB had handled over the last week. Nothing but sunshine and prosperity…

"Ginoza for THE LAST time, my hue is FINE. Maybe if you'd worry about your OWN, you wouldn't be where you are!" Mika stormed through the office door in a tirade. Though her words were flat, and he suspected she didn't know the half of the actual reason he'd been demoted, they stung enough to notice. Tsubame saw Ginoza flinch as he followed the Inspector through the door and felt the stab of Shimotsuki's words in her own side.

"I see you're in a good mood," Akane noted sarcastically.

"When my subordinates constantly undermine my ability to do my job, I get moderately upset. Sorry nothing ever bothers you, Akane." She tossed her bag onto her desk. "Any mail today?"

"It came right before you got here," Akane informed her.

"Thank Kami," she sighed. "What are you looking at?"

Tsubame bit her tongue and turned in her chair to face Ginoza who'd sat down at his desk next to her.

"That's what I thought," Mika grumbled. "Any calls today?"

"None. Sho and Yayoi just went on their lunch break. They were helping me fill out some paperwork up until a few minutes ago."

"I'll double check your reports to make sure they didn't change anything, then."

Ginoza rolled his eyes.

"You do realize that Enforcers have to sign off on all reports you send up to the Chief, right?" His temper was getting the better of him.

"A signature at the bottom doesn't necessitate an Enforcer to fill out any other part of a report. What's to keep you from changing it to say something that could get an Inspector in trouble?"

"Um, how about the obligation to protect and maintain an Inspector's Psycho Pass for starters?" Ginoza gripped the arms of his chair to keep himself seated.

"Right. Because that's in your power," she spat accusingly at him. "You couldn't even protect your own! Instead of doing your job and keeping yourself clear, you ignored your duty to keep yourself healthy, put your entire team at risk, and ended up cloudy. Did I miss anything?"

"Yes, actually," he retorted. He could no longer contain himself to his chair. He stood, shouting, inching towards the Inspector. "You forgot the part where I watched my best friend walk out of my life to kill the man that murdered my father _right in front of me. _But that's alright. It's an easy detail to overlook."

"Ginoza!" Akane warned him. "You'll get in more trouble than she will."

"Your father was a _dog_ Ginoza! That was his _job_. You're lucky he was there to save your ass! Then again, maybe not, if that's really what earned you your demotion. I saw people I loved die too, yet here I am doing the job you couldn't finish."

Akane had pulled Shimotsuki's Dominator from the bag she'd brought in and pointed it at Ginoza. As much as she didn't want to stop him, she didn't really have much of a choice.

Before Tsubame even knew what she was going to do, she was on her feet. She stepped up next to Ginoza and grabbed his human hand to tug him back.

"She's not worth it Gino," she whispered, eyeing the barrel of the Dominator now pointed at them. Her voice dragged his mind out from behind the haze of his anger. When he started to back down, Akane visibly relaxed, but Shimotsuki laughed.

"As for your friends walking in and out of your life, Ginoza, maybe they get tired of caring for you. I know I am."

It was as if the anger flowed in a direct current through Ginoza's arm into her. Tsubame whipped around and slapped her palm into the side of Shimotsuki's face. In the same moment, an electrifying sting smashed into her side and she lost consciousness.

* * *

The beeping of monitors and the smell of antiseptic kept Ginoza from falling asleep where he sat in the chair in Tsubame's infirmary room. She'd been out cold all night. After the exchange with Mika, he'd carried Tsubame himself to the infirmary and Akane had made the decision to take all three of them off the shift to cool off. He wasn't really sure what time it was, but according to his aching back, he'd been sitting in the room far longer than he'd meant to. But he couldn't bring himself to leave.

_Why did she have to slap Shimotsuki? She should've left it alone_.

He looked up at the woman lying motionless in the hospital bed. The image of her hooked up to so many machines made him cringe. It reminded him of waking up with a new arm and no family. He leaned forward and pressed his eyes into his palms, his elbows stabbing into his knees.

_I will not be the cause of someone else's pain. I also can't afford to let someone else hold too much of my own happiness. I don't think I'd be able to withstand it if another person left me. I'd be institutionalized._

He sighed. He recalled their lunch debacle the day before and smiled.

_How do you let other people in without becoming so dependent on them that it breaks you when they leave? _

"G-Ginoza?"

His head snapped up to look at Tsubame, whose voice croaked from lack of use. He could hardly hold himself back as he stumbled out of his chair to her bedside.

"Maekawa…" He knelt next to her and carefully placed his hand on top of hers. "Do you need anything? I can get one of the nurses."

"N-no, I'm okay."

"Okay? You got shot with a Dominator!"

"Yeah. Zero out of ten would not recommend," she joked, sticking her tongue out at him.

"Maekawa, this is serious. Why did you hit an Inspector? You're going to be in trouble when you feel better. Mika's going to make your life Hell."

Tsubame shrugged.

"She was being unacceptably cruel. If there's one thing I'm thankful for about the situation that clouded my hue, it's that people like Masaoka and Sasayama were there to fight the battle I couldn't. I guess I just want to repay the debt…"

"That's foolish," he grumbled.

"That's all I've got." She looked away from him. "It may be foolish, or childish… Maybe even selfish… It's just… You're the first friend I've had in ten years. I'm not going to pretend that isn't important to me… That you aren't important to me."

"I'm not important enough to step in front of a Dominator for. Maekawa, if your Crime Coefficient had spiked like it did before…"

"I know," she mumbled. "I couldn't help myself. She was using the most painful parts of your life to cut you down like it was of no consequence to anyone. It just… made me angry, is all."

He dropped his head, burying his face in the sheet on her bed in frustration. She rolled onto her side, making sure not to move her hand out from under his.

"I think you're important enough," she admitted. "Kinda why I'm here."

The door to the room slid open and Akane walked in, arms crossed and brow furrowed.

"Mr. Ginoza, I need to speak with Ms. Maekawa. Could you please step out for a moment?"

"It's my fault she's in here," he growled into the mattress. "Whatever you have to say, you can tell me too."

Akane placed a hand to her temple.

"Fine." She stood at the end of the bed. "I've spent all morning talking to Inspector Shimotsuki and convinced her to not file a Work Incident Report. That being said, I felt it was appropriate to re-work the Division One schedule to prevent the three of you from having to be on shift together without the rest of the team. The clashing of personalities is more than evident after what happened last night. We'll need to work on everyone's professionalism."

"Some more than others." Ginoza sat up and looked at Akane. The disdain he felt for the whole situation was written across his face.

"I'm really sorry about the way Inspector Shimotsuki was treating you, Gino, but my hands are tied. The fact is that Mika's the one with the black eye."

"I gave her a black eye?" Tsubame was genuinely surprised. Ginoza chuckled.

"Seems your thumb hit her _in_ the eye. She won't be forgetting _that_ anytime soon."

"Focus, please," Akane huffed. "Since I had to change the schedule, you're both off until the night shift tonight. I _need_ both of you to come in because Sho and Yayoi are going to be exhausted. Otherwise, we'll be short-handed and it'll just be me and Ginoza. Do you think you'll be up to it, Maekawa? I tried to hit you in a spot that wouldn't hurt too bad."

"I think I'll be able to do that," Tsubame nodded. "Can I move up to the apartment? I'd like to do a few things before work."

"I'll go talk to the doctors and see if they'll discharge you. You're both lucky, you know. Regardless of the awful things Mika said, she's still an Inspector and you're still Enforcers. I'm sorry it's got to be that way, but that's just how it is. Feel better, okay Maekawa?"

The Inspector turned and left the two of them. Ginoza helped Tsubame remove the wires and IV drips from her arms before she tried to stand. He grabbed her clothing, which was folded and sitting on the small table by the bed, and placed it next to where she sat with her feet hanging off the edge of the bed.

"I'll wait for you in the hallway," he offered. She nodded and stood carefully as he stepped out of the room. He was surprised to see Akane still standing there, leaning against the wall.

"I sent a nurse to push her discharge papers through." She cast a sideways look at him. "I can't figure out, no matter how much I think about it, why our newest Enforcer would feel a strong enough loyalty to someone she's only known for a few weeks to step in front of a Dominator for them. I was hoping you could enlighten me."

"It's not what you're thinking, Inspector," Ginoza assured her.

"That's a shame," she said, a sad smile spreading across her face. "She seems to function better with you around. Well, besides when she's protecting you from Shimotsuki, that is."

"I can't afford something like that. You know that, Akane."

"Part of me thinks you can't afford to continue to go without it, Ginoza. Isolating yourself from everyone around you isn't good for you."

"You're one to talk," he scoffed.

"Well, I don't have to worry about the same things most people do. For whatever reason, I can overwork and stress myself out and my hue won't change at all. But I can see it wearing on you. And the only place to go after this job is Isolation. Please don't push yourself that far. As much as I stick to myself, I'm glad to have you around."

Ginoza's eyes fell to the floor. He jumped at the door opening and reached out to offer Tsubame assistance. His quick movement towards her startled her, causing her to sidestep into the doorframe. Akane and Ginoza cringed at the banging of her elbow into the metal.

"Sorry. I got a little over-zealous. Do you need my help?"

Tsubame blushed, nodding and reaching for Ginoza's arm. Akane smiled to herself before turning away from them.

"I'll see you both tonight. Get some rest."

* * *

Once the two of them finally made it to the apartment, Ginoza made tea while Maekawa sat quietly on the couch. He brought her a mug and sat down next to her.

"Ginoza," she whispered, "do you think you could tell me a little about Masaoka?"

He glanced at her over the top of his cup as he blew cool air over it.

. "What do you want to know?"

"I don't know… What he was like, I guess. I only knew him briefly…"

Ginoza tightened his grip on his mug, the knuckles on his hand turning white.

"My father was an incredibly stubborn, bitter old man with a deep-rooted grudge against the SIBYL system. You see, he was a detective before SIBYL was created and didn't take kindly to the change. By the time he'd made peace with it, his Psycho Pass was too far gone to go back. He was labeled a latent criminal and demoted to an Enforcer for the PSB when I was still in grade school, shaming our family and making it really difficult for us to get by on his last name. After a few years of a tanking marriage, my parents divorced. In order to give myself a better chance at becoming an Inspector, I took Mother's last name, which she'd re-adopted. I had little contact with my father until I was hired by the PSB. When I began work here, our relationship didn't improve. I treated him as I treated any other Enforcer…" His voice trailed.

"What is it?"

"I was a pretty big asshole back then." He laughed. "It's strange the humility that comes from being knocked so low that you'll hit your head on the basement if you stand up."

"The important part is that you are who you are now, right?"

"I'd like to think so." He set his tea on the coffee table. "I've come to accept that I'll never measure up to the image I always had of myself… But if I could be half the man my father was in the end… Drinking habits and all… I'll be content."

Maekawa scooted toward Ginoza and smiled over at him.

"He saved my life, you know. Twice, really."

"We have that in common then," he sighed. "The idiot sacrificed himself to save me from an explosion. He even let a mass murderer get away from the PSB… Damn fool." Ginoza closed his eyes against the tears pricking at his eyelids.

"I'm sorry, Ginoza. I shouldn't have brought it up."

"No, it's alright. Now you know why you punched Shimotsuki."

They laughed together at that.

"She's such a bitch."

"She's got her reasons, I suppose," he shrugged. "Not that I know what they are… Maekawa, may I ask you about what happened to you? I read Kogami's report, but I'd rather hear it from you."

The depression settled into the center of Tsubame's chest like a dagger sunk deep into her sternum, anxiety bubbling its way out of the wound. But she choked it down.

"I… I can try to t-tell you… I can't promise I'll be able to f-finish."

"That's okay. I understand."

Tsubame took a deep breath and looked down at her drink.

"Mr. Akio Fujimoto was the biology instructor at my preparatory school," she began. "Since it was something I was interested in, I took as many of his classes as I could and joined his after school club. I didn't really notice anything odd about him until the day I set off the street scanner. I had just left Mr. Fujimoto's office." She paused to take a nervous drink of her tea.

"He assaulted you on campus?" Ginoza's eyes widened.

"Not exactly… He just made some really awkward remarks… We'd been talking about reproductive mechanisms of different organisms… Like how flowers attract bees for pollination and how female mammals lure males to them when they're in heat through pheromones… He told me that I was sort of like a flower, and that I should look out for bees like him…" She set her drink on the table for fear of spilling it all over herself. She couldn't control her shaking hands. "I ran. I didn't know what he meant, but I didn't like his tone. I've always been pretty good at reading other people's intentions, and his turned very predatory in that moment… I didn't know what to do. I made it to the park between the school and my house when your father caught up to me. He scared me, initially, but when he said Sasayama would shoot me with a Paralyzer if I ran, I stopped and followed him back to the cruiser where Inspector Kogami decided to take me home."

"Did you tell them what happened?"

She shook her head.

"I didn't want them to go after Mr. Fujimoto. He was my favorite teacher, and I thought I had maybe just misunderstood him… I have always been rather excitable. I told my parents though. They didn't believe me… Well, my father didn't at least. He thought I made it up to cover up something I did wrong and sent me to my room early. When I woke up in the middle of the night, I heard someone walking down the hallway. When I went to see wh-who it w-was… My parents…" She covered her mouth as the memory flashed through her mind.

"You don't have to keep going."

She looked at him and took a deep breath.

"No, I… I'm sick of k-keeping this to m-myself. I w-want to get it off m-my chest. I've never t-told anyone about it. N-not even the therapists in isol-lation." She squeezed her eyes shut against the brewing panic attack. The warmth that found its way to the back of one of her balled fists surprised her, but she held as still as possible as Ginoza picked up her hand and smoothed the tension in it away.

"I'm not good at this, but here it goes," Ginoza admitted, a tear slipping down his cheek from the corner of his eye. He smiled timidly as he moved carefully to position himself closer to her, not letting go of her hand. "It's okay. If you want to tell me, I promise to keep it between us. If you don't, that's okay too. Don't push yourself, you'll cloud your hue."

She peeked up at him and smiled.

"Thanks Ginoza. What is it that you're bad at?"

"Being supportive without being overly protective… Even now I couldn't help but warn you about your hue. I have… issues… with worrying myself sick about the people around me… It makes me a bit of a control freak." He hid his eyes behind his bangs that fell messily down to his chin. "Somehow I feel like if I hold on tighter to the next person, they won't leave me like everyone else has."

"If you promise not to leave me, I won't leave you."

"Don't make promises you can't possibly keep. It's not fair to anyone." His mood soured. _No one can make that promise_.

"Ginoza…" She moved her free hand to push his hair back away from his face. He looked at her, the shock evident in his expression. Intimate contact with anyone had been infrequent in school, and non-existent since he started working at the Ministry of Welfare. _It's rather pathetic that something so minor counts as intimate contact to me_. Nevertheless, he certainly didn't want her to stop the gentle tugging of her fingers in his hair. A gnawing need to be closer to her rose in his chest, but the fear of her disappearing before his eyes kept him firmly planted in his seat.

"I'm feeling a bit tired," he lied. His exhaustion had been consumed by the burning desire to cross the space between them.

"Me too," she admitted. "Maybe we'll finish our conversation tomorrow when we're off."

"Maybe," he nodded, moving to stand. He stopped as Tsubame's grip tightened on his hand.

"Wait…" she murmured, "can you promise you won't freak out if I try something?" Her entire face turned red.

"Define freak out." His heart somersaulted in his rib cage.

"Can you just sit still for a second?"

"I can." Apprehension dripped from his voice.

"Okay. Just give me a moment." She readied herself briefly before leaning over to wrap her arms around Ginoza's chest, burying her face in his shoulder. He looked down at her with a bit of amusement. "Thank you for being so kind to me, Ginoza. It means a lot to me."

"I should be thanking you for the same thing," he admitted. "Do you mind if I hug you back?"

"Umm… just don't squeeze too hard… claustrophobic…"

"Right." He laid his arms softly on her back and rested his chin on the top of her head. The hint of melon tickled his nose delightfully from her hair. When she pulled away from him he resisted the impulse to cling to her longer, if only barely.

"Do you think you could sit with me again tonight? It really helped me."

"Sure thing, just let me put our mugs away. I'll be there in a second."

She nodded and walked to her room.

Ginoza couldn't help but feel torn about Maekawa. He could no longer deny to himself how attracted to her he was, but he also didn't know how he could feel comfortable pursuing someone so fragile. _She's still fourteen in a way_, he thought. _That man not only robbed her of her childhood, he stole the rest of her life while he was at it. And I'm certainly not equipped for this… I'm hardly stable myself._ He set the mugs down in the sink. _I don't want to hurt anymore, and if that comes at the cost of feeling anything… then maybe that's what I want._ He stood outside her door for a moment before knocking, his father's voice scolding him. _Nobuchika, denying yourself feelings certainly didn't help you before. Why do you think it's a good idea now?_

He tapped a light knock on the door.

"Come in!"

Maekawa was already in her bed under the comforter up to her chin.

"Cozy?"

She nodded.

"Good," he laughed.

"Ginoza?"

He looked up at her from his place in her desk chair.

"I just want you to know that consciously I'm not afraid of you. It's just my knee-jerk reactions that seem to get me sometimes. I really do trust you."

"Why is that?" he questioned.

"Well, if you were going to hurt me, you've had three opportunities by now and haven't done anything to make me think I shouldn't trust you."

"Good to know," he smiled. "You should try to go to sleep now."

As if in response to his comment, she yawned.

"No problem."

"Goodnight, Maekawa," he sighed.

"You can call me Tsubame, Ginoza."

In seconds her eyes were closed and she was breathing peacefully from her place in her bed. Ginoza snuck out of her room as he had before and flopped down on his bed, not bothering to undress.


	6. Unexpected Meeting

After a few days of being scheduled opposite of Shimotsuki, the Division One team was back to their regular routine. When the six of them were in the office during the day, Mika avoided speaking directly to any of the Enforcers, but specifically omitted Tsubame's name from her vocabulary, which honestly didn't bother the Enforcer in the slightest. The bruise around Mika's eye receded after a week or so, and with its disappearance returned Shimotsuki's palpable irritation at the proximity of the latent criminals. It wasn't much longer before she was back to her normal, unbearable demeanor.

Ginoza spent the majority of his time in the office ignoring Mika's agitation. He was much more at ease after Tsubame divulged the little bit of her story that he'd heard, even though she'd not talked to him about the rest of it. Tsubame's stutter became so infrequent that her co-workers forgot she'd even had one. It had completely gone away when she was with Ginoza.

Things had been so quiet that the detectives were completely up to date on their paperwork. When the alert went off Sho nearly jumped out of his chair and Tsubame tossed the pen she was holding across the room. They were dispatched to a community college campus where the Campus Anxiety-Monitoring Robotic Aids had alerted to a gathering of increasingly agitated students. Hinakawa easily hacked the college's CAMRA's and plugged into one of the device's video feeds.

"Um, Inspector Tsunemori, you might want to come look at this…" Sho zoomed the CAMRA's focus past a clearly distressed group of students to a bulletin board covered with international news stories and several containers of what appeared to be printed newspapers; a form of media that hadn't been in use in Japan for decades.

"We need to get to that campus," the detective barked. "All four of you need to get to the paddy wagon. Shimotsuki and I will grab a cruiser. Inspector, could you page Division Two and ask Domoto to stand by?"

Mika nodded and sent a message on her wristband holo while she walked behind the other five to the elevator. On their way into the paddy wagon, Ginoza noticed Tsubame wringing her hands together. His leather-gloved, robotic hand reached out to steady her.

"It's just a bunch of college kids. They get worked up like this all the time. That's why the Ministry of Welfare dispatched the CAMRA's in the first place. Don't worry."

His reassuring smile calmed the tingling in her hands, but caused the opposite reaction in her head. Yayoi smirked to herself as she passed them, taking her usual seat next to Sho. Once safely inside the armored truck, the four of them relaxed against the cool steel walls. It had been so long since they'd been outside, the prospect made them almost giddy, despite how cold it had been that day.

"Our mission is straight-forward," Akane's voice cut through the silence in the truck. "Break up the crowd, subdue rioters, and convince the students to go back to their dorms. You will be outfitted with nightsticks upon arrival. Please don't wield them unless you intend to use them. Dissipation is the preferred approach."

"I wonder what's got them so freaked out," Ginoza pondered aloud. "Anyone can mock up a fake foreign news story."

"Perhaps this one is particularly convincing," Yayoi offered. The four shared a concerned glance at the screen where the CAMRA feed was still streaming. The students' voices seemed to be mutating from surprise and shock to anger and outrage. One voice rang out above the others accusing a government conspiracy.

"Great." Tsubame sighed and scratched her head. "If they think it's a government conspiracy, they'll never listen to us."

The armored truck came to a sudden stop and the doors opened to allow the Enforcers out onto the street. Shimotsuki and Tsunemori were waiting for them.

"We can't get any closer; campus is blocked off during the day. It'll be easier to enter on foot anyway. We've already called in for assistance. The Inspectors of Division Two are just as much your boss as I am. Think of them as an extension of me. Questions?" Akane pulled two of the four nightsticks from the caddy that rolled up in front of her and tossed them to Ginoza and Tsubame. Sho and Yayoi grabbed their own.

"I see you're a bit unconvinced of the students' intentions Inspectors," Ginoza quipped as he motioned to the Dominators at their hips.

"That's not a question," Mika grumbled. The space between the two of them ignited into an impassible barrier. Before Akane could correct either of them, Ginoza smirked, his emerald eyes softening, and shrugged.

"Where would you like me to start, Inspector?"

Akane tasked Yayoi and Ginoza with collecting as much of the inciting materials as they could, which really just meant they'd need to clear paths through the gathered students for the evidence bots to reach the drop sites. Maekawa and Hinakawa were disguised as Komissa and dispatched to try to convince the students to go home. The Inspectors kept their distance so as not to alarm the students more than they already were. The majority of the gathered mob was centered around the Daily Happenings marquee where a reportedly live streaming of a newscast from San Francisco, California was glowing on the main screen, Japanese subtitles scrolling across the bottom. Tsubame bumped lightly against a civilian in the holo suit.

"Excuse me. Stress levels for this area are currently elevated above regulation values. If you are in distress, please try to calm down and return quietly to your dormitory."

The young man who looked up at the Komissa blinked as recognition spread across his face. He turned to the crowd behind him and shouted.

"It's the PSB! You were right! They _are_ covering it up!"

A man in a motorcycle helmet jumped up onto a nearby trashcan.

"Don't let the Komissa through! The PSB are trying to turn off the message board! Don't allow them to deceive you any more!"

The flow of the crowd turned swiftly against her as the students began to shove Maekawa back. She tried desperately not to break character in her panic.

"Do not be alarmed. Area stress levels are rising. Please return to your dormitories until further notice."

She hissed into her wristband.

"I need some help here. Ginoza, I can't hold them off. There are too many."

"I'm almost to the power cell for the marquee. That helmeted man is standing right next to it. Just a few more seconds..."

The screen went blank and the reports rolling across the marquee vanished.

"Hound One, that man is clearly orchestrating this entire outburst. Take him down."

"Roger, Shepherd One."

Ginoza shoved a student out of the way, charging with the nightstick in his hand. The buzz it emitted caught the mysterious man's attention.

The vigilante was not taken off guard, but seemed to admit to some surprise as he narrowly dodged a blow from the paralyzer. He delivered a swift kick to the Enforcer's face before nimbly hopping down from his perch and tearing off through the crowd.

"He's getting away. Kunizuka, can you catch him?"

Yayoi sprinted from where she was calming a group of students near the library entrance over to the giant mob around the marquee.

"I don't see him. Tsubame, are you okay?"

The Komissa holo was beginning to falter as the students crushed it against a nearby pillar.

"T-the holo isn't going to hold."

"Inspector, we could really use some help." Yayoi shoved past one of the students, knocking a few of them down. Readying her paralyzer, she waved it in the air over a few of their heads. "You all need to calm down. Get back to your dormitories and stay put."

"She's an Enforcer!" one of the boys standing beside Yayoi shouted.

"Where are the Inspectors?" the girl next to him asked. She looked around in terror.

"It isn't just Komissa! The PSB is really here! What if they use the Dominators?"

The notion was enough to send the crowd into a frenzy, dispersing them faster than any of the Enforcers had thought possible. Yayoi reached Tsubame as she slumped against the pillar, the holo dissolving around her. The panic on her face faded and she forced herself to stop shaking.

"Who was that guy?" Hinakawa asked, running up to meet them, his holo also gone.

"Are you all alright?" Akane's voice rang in their headpieces.

"Where's Ginoza?" Tsubame hadn't seen him after he'd been kicked in the head.

* * *

Ginoza panted and pressed himself against the wall in the alleyway down which he'd seen the suspect retreat. Relieved to be off campus and away from the students, he felt like he had a decent chance of tracking the man if he was careful to try to keep quiet. He realized then that his headset must've fallen out of his ear when he'd been kicked. His cheek throbbed, but he had the idea that if that man had actually wanted to hurt him he could've kicked him a lot harder. He snuck around the corner and crouched behind a crate in the alleyway.

"You're tenacious as ever, Gino, but you still suck at tracking."

"What?"

Ginoza stood and eyed a cell phone that had been placed on speaker on the ground in the middle of the alleyway. He'd recognize that voice anywhere. The echoes of it in his memory beat painfully in his chest.

"If you want to chat, you'll have to take your tracker off. Of course, that might raise your crime coefficient enough for SYBIL to decide to terminate your employment. How long have you been an Enforcer?"

"Kogami you bastard, where are you?"

Ginoza jumped over the crate and picked up the phone.

"Take off the tracker, and I'll tell you. Is it my fault?"

Ginoza was silent. He didn't really know how to answer that. Kogami's disappearance certainly hadn't _helped _his Psycho Pass stabilize after Masaoka's death, but he didn't know that it was the reason he'd clouded. He grabbed the metal clasp of the band around his wrist and managed to loosen it enough to slide his hand through.

"Keep going up the alley where you were before you turned left. There's an old building with an exterior fire escape. I'll meet you there." The phone call ended and Ginoza dropped his bracelet, giving it a troubled look as it lay on the ground. _Akane will understand_. He took off into the narrow alley, quickly identifying the fire escape. The bottom ladder was hoisted up into its locked position, so he had to jump for it, causing quite the commotion when it clamored against the pavement.

"Subtle," Kogami's voice mocked from somewhere above him.

"Shut up, you idiot," Ginoza muttered under his breath, his black coat catching on a rusty, broken piece of what should have been a handrail. A few stories up, a hand reached out and stopped the Enforcer as he prepared to climb another ladder.

"In here."

He turned around to see Kogami standing in one of the abandoned apartments, the helmet removed from his head.

In that moment Ginoza didn't know if he should hug, punch, or strangle the man in front of him. His fist did the thinking for him. Kogami laughed and held his face where Ginoza had made contact.

"Yeah, I deserve that."

"What are you doing here? If someone sees you… Wait. How the Hell are you moving around without the street scanners picking you up?"

Kogami glanced at the helmet on the tattered chair in the corner of the room.

"Some friends of mine are rather skilled with the technology Makishima used on those helmets. They were able to make a few upgrades."

"Friends of yours? Kogami what are you trying to do anyway? You know you're on the SYBIL system's short list of criminals accused of treason, right?"

"Short list, huh?"

"Yeah, you know, because EVERYONE ON IT DIES. Why the Hell did you come back?" Ginoza paced the floor.

"Does taking off your tracker also put you on the list?"

"Stop changing the subject." Ginoza whirled around and finally really looked at his former best friend. He looked great, to be honest; almost as if he'd actually been training since he'd left. But where would he find the time to do that if he was on the run from SYBIL?

"It's not really important that you know why. I just need to know if I can still trust you. Considering you did as I asked, I'm glad that it seems I can. I was actually hoping you'd been promoted by now. It would've made our job a bit easier. Plus you wouldn't have to sneak around." He lit a cigarette. Ginoza noticed that it wasn't his usual brand. He'd actually never seen the package before.

"Our job?" Ginoza crossed his arms.

"I need your help. Even though I have the helmet, I'm limited in my ability to snoop around. Nona Tower has video surveillance…"

"Are you out of your mind? I think whatever hair gel you've been using to spike your hair is contaminated with idiot."

Kogami just glared at him.

"Japan is being held captive by an anonymous, oppressive government body and you expect me to just sit around and be okay with that?"

"Oppressive? What are you talking about? Japanese citizens are allowed to live their lives however they wish at the press of a button."

"You get to live like that?" Kogami challenged Ginoza.

"Well, I…" he glanced at the floor. "I made my bed, Kogami. I'm messed up. It's the risk we run to protect Japan. You know that. It sucks, but that's just the way it is."

"Doesn't have to be," Kogami smirked.

"I need to think about this," Ginoza grumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I'll be waiting. We'll have other opportunities to talk."

Ginoza nodded and slipped back out of the window.

"By the way, I like the new look. Masaoka was right. You did get his eyes."

Ginoza smiled to himself.

"Goodbye, Kogami."

* * *

Ginoza sprinted back down the alleyway to find his tracker. When he rounded the corner, he found all of Division One waiting for him.

"Stop right there!" A Dominator aimed angrily at him.

"Inspector, is that really necessary?" Akane reached out to tip the end of Shimotsuki's gun down.

"It's fine, Akane. SYBIL might think she's right. My tracker _is_ on the ground."

"Are you okay?" Tsubame asked him, coming to examine him. His left cheek had begun to bruise from being kicked in the face.

"I'm alright. He got away though," he lied.

"Did you get a look at him, Gino?" Akane stepped between Mika and Ginoza.

He shook his head.

"He had that helmet on. He's got a motorcycle. Unregistered. Plain and black. It's probably stolen." He was a little sickened by his own ability to lie so well.

"That's alright. Here," she smiled, approaching him with his tracker in her hands. He offered her his wrist, shooting a glance at Shimotsuki over Akane's shoulder.

"Don't do it again," she grumbled, hanging her Dominator on her hip, clearly irritated that her Dominator didn't shift to Eliminator mode when she'd pointed it at him.

"Let's get back to HQ. We've got to type up a report for this. The Headmaster is going to deal with the students. He'll be hiring some psychiatric specialists to analyze campus atmosphere and make some adjustments."

"Good," Ginoza nodded. It was hard to feign a smile. What was Kogami getting at anyway? What was SYBIL hiding from them?

Back at Nona Tower, the Enforcers were dismissed for the night to tend to their injuries. Hinakawa had been slammed into a light pole, and Tsubame was still reeling from being pinned down by the protestors. Yayoi disappeared into the lab where Shion was still on duty, but the rest of them shuffled, exhausted, to the apartment. When Ginoza offered to make tea for the three of them, Sho and Tsubame answered as enthusiastically as possible. Hinakawa retreated to his room shortly after receiving his cup, leaving Ginoza and Tsubame alone in the living room.

"I'm glad you're okay," she smiled over the steaming mug in her hands. "I was really worried something terrible had happened."

"Well nothing did. It's all okay," he grinned. Comforting her somehow comforted him as well, he'd found. Inside he was nothing but turmoil, but for her he could plaster on a smile even if he was dying. He looked down into his tea. He was surprised when he felt the cushion next to him sink under her weight.

"Please don't run off like that again." Her voice was almost pleading. When he turned to look at her, she was staring blankly out the window across the room.

"Are you okay?"

"Just tired," she deflected. "Honestly, I don't know what I would've done if you'd actually run off like Inspector Shimotsuki thought you had."

"Shimotsuki likes to think lots of things about me," he shrugged. "None of them are very flattering, I'm sure." He hoped she'd laugh, but instead she glanced up at him, teary-eyed.

"Ginoza, you caught up to that man, didn't you?"

He nearly spat out the tea in his mouth.

"I thought so. You have a tell. I can't believe Akane doesn't know what it is."

"I… I don't even…" he sighed. "There's a reason I had to lie," he whispered.

"I'm sure it's a good one," she smiled. "I don't think you'd lie to hurt any of us. But you did take off your own tracker, didn't you? When Shimotsuki started shouting about how you'd probably taken the opportunity to desert the bureau, I don't know… I just, couldn't come up with a good enough reason for you to stay. Our job is stressful, and it's not like we can just quit. I mean, I'm not sure why you came back."

He set his cup down and turned slightly to look at her.

"I do have a few reasons," he challenged. "It's not like Akane and the other Enforcers aren't my friends. And there's you…" Did he want to go there right now?

"I suppose," she thought aloud. A yawn escaped her as she placed her empty mug on the coffee table next to his half full one. He was thankful that she didn't seem to want to pursue him about any of that at the moment. "You don't make a whole lot of sense sometimes."

"I seem to make more sense to you than anyone else. What's my tell?"

She just giggled and closed her eyes, head propped on one hand.

"Tsubame?"

"Hmm?"

_She's falling asleep sitting up…_

"Tsubame you need to go to bed."

He stood and picked up their mugs, placing them in the sink. When he returned, she'd fallen over across the place he'd been sitting and was snoring lightly. _Seriously?_

"Tsubame…" he nudged her gently.

"Hmm?"

"You're falling asleep. You need to go to bed."

"Okay."

She made no move to sit up.

"You're a child." Exasperation laced his voice.

"No you are," she grumbled.

He sighed. _Now what?_ He tried to shake her awake again to no avail. _Well then…_ He opted to lift her from the couch and take her to her room. When he reached the door it occurred to him that he'd only ever had her express permission to enter before. He tried once again to wake her.

"Is it okay if I take you to your bed?"

"What?" She scowled in her sleep.

"You need to go to bed. Where would you like to sleep?"

Her face relaxed.

"Here's fine."

_You're joking._ Ginoza rolled his eyes. Torn between decency and Tsubame's privacy, it appeared he had two options. _Kami help me_, he thought as he turned away from Tsubame's door and walked down the hall to his own room. The door slid open and he placed her gently on his bed, flipping the covers over her. He grabbed a pillow for himself and pulled an extra blanket from his closet, found a comfortable enough place on the floor near the bed, and drifted off into the night, the sweet smell of her clinging to his shirt.


	7. Break In

**WARNING: Shameless lemon. SURPRISE it's not Gino and Tsubame... (...yet...) mwahaha. Anyway, sorry it's been so long since I updated. My laptop was stolen in July and I only have limited access to my best friend's computer. And so, a treat for you. 3**

It had been a while since Akane had actually felt relieved when shutting the door to her apartment behind her. The day had been long and grueling, physically and emotionally. Though she wasn't exactly sure why Ginoza had taken off his tracker, but she had to admit there was a moment while they were standing there in the alleyway that she thought he'd walked out of her life as well. _Just like him._

She shook her head, kicked off her shoes, and tossed her blue MWPSB jacket in a random direction, not bothering to turn the lights on. Pulling the lighter out of her pocket, she grabbed a slim white Spinel cigarette from the carton on the kitchen table, ignoring Candy's warning against open flames within the apartment complex. She had to empty the ashtray on the table before carefully placing the lit cigarette in one of the grooves so that it would burn down without going out.

"You know, they work better when you put them in your mouth."

Akane froze, holding herself up only by the death grip she took on the edge of the table. She'd hallucinated his voice before, but it'd never been so loud.

"Also, you're rather unobservant. You do realize I'm not a coat rack…"

"How… how did you get in here?" She looked over her shoulder, despite her fear of finding an empty room. Kogami had folded her jacket in his lap and sat comfortably on her couch.

"Is that really the question you want to ask me?" he quirked an eyebrow at her. As she sank to the floor, he sprung off the sofa to catch her. "Are you okay?"

"Ha. Are you sure that's the question _you_ want to ask _me?_" she shot bitterly, tears welling at the corners of her eyes.

"Hey, none of that." He caught one of them as it rolled down her cheek.

"What are you doing here? You could get caught. SYBIL would want you dead. You shouldn't even be in Japan."

"I can't tell you, exactly, except that I'm here on business." She eyed the motorcycle helmet that sat in the chair adjacent to the couch.

"You mean inciting panic at a college?" The anger in her voice took him by surprise. "Not to mention you could've got Ginoza killed today. What the Hell were you thinking?"

"Akane," he tried to soothe. She clenched her fists. "Are you going to punch me too?"

A questioning expression crossed her face briefly before she chuckled to herself.

"He always said that's what he'd do if he ever saw you again. I thought he was just kidding…"

"Yeah, definitely not," he informed her, rubbing his jaw.

"You deserved it."

"I know," he whispered. "From both of you, really. I'm… sorry for putting you through that. I'm sorry I didn't even say goodbye. I didn't really have the time."

"I know."

"Seems like things have been harder than I expected. Gino's a dog now?"

Akane just nodded.

"Never thought that'd happen. How've you been?"

"Surviving," she shrugged. She had to admit it had become much harder to do so lately. Without even her grandmother to care for, she'd been pretty lonely. He grabbed her face and turned it back to him, searching. "What?"

"I honestly just didn't think I'd ever get to see you again. I can't tell you how relieved I am that you're okay. I was kind of afraid you wouldn't want to see me at all." Kogami fidgeted before her, his gaze falling to the side.

"Why would you think that? Of course I want to see you." She blushed at her own forwardness. "I mean… I…"

He smiled. "Good to know. I guess then your feelings haven't changed?"

"You knew?"

"Akane…" He grinned, shaking his head. "Everyone did."

"Awesome…"

"Only one person knew that I liked you back though."

Her eyes widened. _Did he just say that?_ He scooted ever so slightly closer to her to reach around and pull her into his lap.

"I'm sorry I left like that. I'm sorry I didn't even have the guts to leave you with more than a note. One that didn't even really explain anything. I wrote it with my head, but you deserved to know what was in my heart." She swore she heard his voice crack as he hugged her to him. He grabbed her shoulders and held her at arm's length.

"So, what exactly was in your heart then?"

She didn't even have time to blink before he'd pressed his lips gently to hers. At first she didn't really know what to do. When his hands found their way into her hair the sensation revived her senses and she remembered that she could kiss him back. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling herself as close to him as she could feasibly get from their current position on the floor.

Without a word, Kogami picked her up and bridal carried her to her room. How he'd known which door didn't seem to matter to her at the time. He set her down on her bed and kissed her lightly again before looking around, stepping out of his boots with more difficulty than he'd anticipated in his haste.

"WC?" He pointed at the message scratched into her wall. She held up her hands.

"It's nothing, just ignore that…"

"Ignored," he smirked. He shrugged out of his leather jacket and pulled his white t-shirt off by the collar. Akane couldn't help herself as she ogled at him.

"Glad that hasn't changed," he said triumphantly.

"Oh shut up," she laughed, chucking a pillow at him. He returned to her bed, towering over her, and placed a hand on either side of where she sat.

"Shutting up," he obliged. He kissed her again, this time taking her bottom lip between his. He broke away to nuzzle her head to the side, finding the place where her jaw met her neck and leaving a trail of kisses to her collarbone. Light headed, she started to fall backwards under him. Before she could hit the bed, he grabbed her and repositioned her so that she was lying beside him, his mouth still tickling what little skin was available to him. She didn't even notice one hand skillfully unbuttoning her blouse until he moved to push it off of one shoulder. When he felt her stiffen at the realization, he stopped.

"Is that okay?"

She nodded, trying to force herself to relax.

"It's just that… well… I've never…"

He smiled, his hand brushing her cheek.

"I'd never hurt you. Not again. Not now that I have the chance to make things right."

"Kogami," she whimpered.

"No more crying," he comforted, kissing away her tears. "I hate it that I make you cry. And it's Shinya to you."

Inhibitions forgotten, Akane helped Shinya finish removing her blouse. His hands ghosted over the newly exposed skin, sending chills up her spine. His fingers hitched behind her knee and draped it over his hip. He chuckled at the bewildered look on her face as she peeked down at their bodies entangled together, and he pressed closer. Akane's breath caught in her throat as he looked at her, his hand reaching around her neck to gently pull her down to him, kissing her deeply.

He was surprised when she wrapped her arms around his torso and slid her hand over the muscles in his back. He continued to kiss her despite the distraction, until her fingers snuck their way to the waistband of his trousers and traced along to the button at the front. She steeled her resolve and unfastened it, carefully pushing the zipper down as well. It took every ounce of self-control left in him not to press himself into her hands. So when her other hand found its way into his hair, tugging gently on the spiky tendrils, he had none left.

Before Akane could catch her breath, he swung his torso around so he was on top of her, one leg between hers, pressing insistently into her with his knee. He made quick work of the silky black bra she still wore and dropped it on the floor next to the bed. A hand slid up to explore, teasing one of her nipples, while his mouth dropped to the other. Instinctively, her hips ground into his leg and she moaned. He was reluctant to stop, but his pants were an annoying barrier between them that he couldn't deal with any longer. After discarding the rest of his clothing, he bent over her to breathe hot air over her stomach as he unsuccessfully fumbled with the buttons on her work slacks. Frustrated, he pulled them apart, the obnoxious little bastards flying in all directions.

"Really?" she breathed.

"Sorry," he whispered, shooting her a cheeky grin before returning to his task, pulling her pants off. "I didn't take you for a thong kind of girl," he mused. She blushed, but when she opened her mouth to argue, he covered it with his own and her retort was quickly forgotten. He positioned himself between her legs, grasping at whatever he could find to check himself. Shamelessly, he allowed himself to rub against the lacey bit of fabric that separated them. To his satisfaction, her panties were already wet. Her back arched against her will and she gasped at this new sensation. A mischievous grin was her only warning before his hand reached down, slid up the inside of her thigh, and pushed the final barrier aside, his fingers caressing her center. She groaned beneath him. Knowingly, he curled his fingers upward, leaving her gasping for air. Akane reached out for him, wanting him closer to her. As he obliged, he slowly replaced his fingers, sliding his hips flush to hers. She squeaked behind another kiss, flinching at his intrusion. He worked quickly to try to get her to relax again, his hands dragging down her arms to intertwine their fingers. After a matter of seconds, she carefully pressed up against him, wrapping her legs around his torso, which was all the encouragement he needed. Her hands reached up to grasp his shoulders, and when her release came, her nails dug into his flesh as she whispered his name.

He grabbed her hips and continued the rhythm he kept before he couldn't take it any longer. Recognizing the familiar tightness in his muscles, he quickly withdrew from her, careful not to make a mess on her comforter. After catching his breath, he stood and walked to the bathroom. When he returned, Akane was fighting sleep.

"You can stay here. Clearly Candy didn't mind letting you in in the first place," she murmured.

"You know I can't." His voice fell as he said it. He crawled into the bed behind her and wrapped himself around her, kissing her shoulder. She finagled the comforter so that it covered them.

"If it's for my sake I don't care. I want you to stay."

"Truthfully it's for my sake. If you were caught harboring a criminal, even your clear hue wouldn't save you. SYBIL would have your head. I don't know what I'd do if I allowed that to happen." She rolled over to look at him. "I'll come back. As frequently as I can. I promise."

Her eyes were sad, but she nodded. It was better that way.

"You should sleep. Work tomorrow," he reminded her.

"Yes, because you're the responsible one, right?" she laughed.

"Goodnight, koishii," he mumbled into her neck.

"I love you, Shinya."

Kogami nuzzled closer to her, if that was even possible.

"I love you too."


	8. Confession

As consciousness returned to her, Tsubame became mildly aware of a familiar and soothing smell that warmed her; enveloping her senses entirely. In her dreamlike state, she mused that it smelled a lot like a lost memory, forgotten to her in her bliss. The fresh cotton of a recently laundered comforter honeyed by a mix of the faint woody aroma of old leather and the sweet tinge of spiced rum… Where on earth had she smelled that before? A deeper breath revived her and her eyes blinked open. When she didn't immediately recognize the room, she began to panic. A whimpering from a corner of the room drew her attention and she shot up out of the foreign bed, careful not to wake whatever it was that was guarding her from the floor.

"G-Ginoza?" she whispered, covering her mouth. There was no doubt that she was in his room. An open bottle of gold liquor sat guiltily on his nightstand in front of several picture frames that had been knocked face-first into the wood, apparently to conceal their contents. A worn out, brown leather jacket clung to the coat rack near the door. There was no doubt in her mind that it was Masaoka's, considering the percentage of it that was stained with what appeared to be blood. She tried not to think about it. In her haste to find something else to look at, she grabbed the nearest picture frame. To her surprise it contained an actual printed photograph of a young and smiling Masaoka with an even younger Ginoza sitting atop his shoulders. She brushed her fingers gently across the glass and smiled, astounded that the reserved, secretive Ginoza she knew now had once been able to bare his happiness so easily. A quiet cry from the floor interrupted her reverie. Leaving the frame on the bed, she slipped out from under the covers and knelt quietly beside him to observe his face.

Ginoza's brow furrowed in his sleep, pain etched deeply into his features. His breath quickened and he tossed under the knit blanket he'd covered himself with. Her heart ripped in two as she watched him struggle to fight against the demons that assailed him in his nightmare. Tears rolled unhindered down his face and he whispered heartbreakingly into his blanket, "dad?" It crushed her, her face soaked in her own tears now. She reached out and tenderly brushed his tangled hair from his face, gently waking him.

"It's just a dream," she soothed. His bleary eyes fought to focus on her. "It's me, Tsubame. You were having a nightmare. Everything is alright, Ginoza. It's okay."

He panted, desperate to catch the breath that had been knocked from him by his own dreams. His hand found its way to the much softer one placed on his cheek, and squeezed it lightly. He hadn't felt so exposed since the day his father died; like the tendrils of a snapped electric line flailing on the ground. Still shaking, he carefully sat up and propped himself on his robotic arm and covered his face with his hand, hers still trapped against his cheek.

"Sorry, I was having a bad dream," he apologized. For what, Tsubame couldn't fathom.

"Why are you sorry? It's not like you can control it. I know I can't. Are you alright?"

He peeked at her through his fingers and smiled weakly.

"I am now."

A flash of color spread across her cheeks and she looked away, his gaze so heavy with gratitude she couldn't hold it.

"Shall I make us something to eat?" he offered.

"S-sure," she stuttered, looking back up at him. He noticed but didn't mention it. Her impediment hadn't surfaced at all in weeks; in the conversations between the two of them, it had been even longer. But something was different now. Despite the hitch in her voice, she didn't shrink away from him, even though he still held her hand. Her even gaze filled his heart to the brim. Cautiously, he grasped her hand and moved it the small distance to his lips and closed his eyes as he placed the tiniest of kisses against the center of her palm.

Tsubame's stomach flipped and the spark that formed in her palm traveled unnervingly up her arm. Part of her wanted to slap him, but most of her was filled with an urge she'd never before experienced; to be closer to him. In a moment of uncontainable curiosity, she found herself suddenly wrapped in the blanket as well, leaning into him, her hand held steadfast against his lips. He watched her carefully for any sign that she might change her mind or bolt away from him. She delicately wiggled her hand free of his and gingerly brushed his lips with her thumb before placing her hand comfortably in her own lap.

"Tsubame, I… I don't really know how to say this. I've never felt this attached to anyone. Not since before my father was demoted. And even so, this is… different. I was able to distance myself from him… I have no desire to do that with you. Just the thought of it makes me uncomfortable." He examined her face for any sign of alarm. Spotting none, he decided to continue. "You've become more dear to me than I ever imagined anyone could be. Whether I'm awake or asleep, I feel a constant need to be close to you. Your smile lifts my heart, and your tears dash it to pieces. And maybe it's stupid, and impossible, and maybe I don't deserve it, but I want something permanent for once in my life."

She began a rigorous and detailed study of her hands, completely taken aback. "And you think that something is… me?"

"If you'll have me."

Tsubame's annoyance flared suddenly, and she whipped her head up. "You do realize this kind of stuff scares the shit out of me, right?"

"That's why this is completely up to you." He met her gaze levelly, patiently.

She made an exasperated noise and got to her feet, pacing frantically, avoiding those eyes. "The last man I rejected stabbed me! And you're asking me to… to…" she gesticulated wildly, unable to convey her thoughts with words.

Ginoza appeared at her side so suddenly she almost screamed. She hadn't even seen him stand. He took one of her shaking hands in his steady ones and guided her to a seat on the bed next to him. "Tsubame," his voice was insistent. "Look at me." She did. "Breathe…"

She allowed him to dictate her breathing until she was calm. His eyes were like pools of still water into which the torrent inside her flowed. When she was able to take in her surroundings, she noticed Ginoza was still holding her hand.

"I need some time to think," she said slowly, gazing at the link between them. "I'll see you in a bit, I need to shower." Ginoza allowed her to pull her hand away as she stood to leave, a pit in his stomach. _I just ruined everything_.

"Um… Ginoza?" Tsubame had stopped, one foot out the door. "Do you think… would it be okay if I spent the night in here again tonight? I haven't slept that well in years."

His breath hitched. "Of course you can," he responded bewilderedly.

The shy smile she gave him before quietly shutting the door behind herself sent Ginoza's heart soaring. He was positively cheerful, humming to himself as he got ready for the morning shift. Thirty minutes later, he walked into the kitchenette to prepare the meal he'd promised.

* * *

Nothing could bring him down that day. Even Mika's attempt to prod his past back into his healing wounds couldn't bother him. Not while she was in any measureable proximity. He caught her peeking at him shyly a few times before he noticed that his stomach was full of the butterflies he'd heard so much about in his grade school days. He wondered if hers was too. Akane's voice interrupted his blissful ponderings.

"Maekawa do you think you could go get Kunizuka?" Ginoza hadn't even noticed her absence, which somewhat unsettled him. That wasn't like him at all.

"I don't think she's in the apartment," Tsubame reported. A knot tightened in her chest.

"Of course not. She's only late like this when Kuranamori turns off their alarm. They're probably sleeping," Mika grumbled, clearly annoyed. "I don't know why that's allowed at HQ. This is supposed to be a workplace."

Akane's brow furrowed and the most accusatory gleam that Ginoza had ever seen entered her eyes.

"Well where do you suggest they go? It's not like they can get an apartment off Ministry grounds. They aren't even allowed to leave the Tower."

Mika's cheeks colored as she realized with Akane defending Yayoi and Shion, she was the only person in the room with such an opinion. Despite the better judgement Ginoza thought she should've gained by then, she tried to defend herself.

"Enforcers shouldn't be allowed to carry on such relations at all." Even Sho looked up from his screen at that.

"Care to explain?" Ginoza wasn't able to mask the scoff that preceded his question. _Oh this should be grand._

"Enforcers are latent criminals; animals that, without psychological intervention, would degenerate into actual criminals. Sort of like dogs… When you pick out an animal with certain bad characteristics and breed it with a dog of similar bad characteristics, you end up with a pack of…"

"Bad dogs," Hinakawa finished, crossing his arms.

"Thank Kami one of you is logical," she mumbled, turning back to the report she had been typing.

"Only if you ignore the glaring genetic fallacy in your _logical_ argument," Sho rebuked, raising an eyebrow.

"All of you calm down. This isn't a work appropriate conversation topic," Akane warned. "Everyone get back to what you were working on." She shot a sharp look at her fellow Inspector before resuming her conversation with Tsubame. "Would you please go get Yayoi from the Analysis Lab?"

"I suppose I could," Tsubame nodded, standing to leave.

"I certainly hope they're properly clothed when you arrive," Mika mumbled. Terror drew all of the color from Tsubame's face.

"Maybe I should go with her," Ginoza offered.

"I need you to finish your report," Akane corrected. "Tsubame's is already finished, and the Chief wants a detailed recount of your foot pursuit from yesterday."

"Of course she does," he sighed. He spun in his chair back to his desk, discreetly brushing Tsubame's hand to try to calm her.

"I… I'll be right back then."

The walk to the Analysis Lab was painfully short for Tsubame. She found herself hoping that she would somehow run into someone she would vaguely recognize and be able to chat with to give Shion and Yayoi more time to dress in the event that they weren't. Unfortunately, her options were limited to the Division One team members as she found herself to be the furthest thing from socially diverse. She reached the lab and paused before knocking to take a breath, only to be greeted by the sound of arguing voices from the other side of the door.

"I just don't understand the harm in applying. Why are you so upset by that? Do you just not want to? Are you really that afraid of commitment, Shion?" Tsubame had barely heard enough of Yayoi's voice to know that that was hers. She waited for Shion's reply but found it was too muffled to make out, or perhaps just too soft in contrast to possibly the closest Kunizuka ever actually got to shouting. A short, "I'm late, I suppose we can talk later," quickly ended their conversation and the door slid open. Tsubame had just enough time to slip silently around the corner away from the direction she knew Yayoi would need to turn. She waited a few seconds before making for the elevator herself, making sure to listen for the metal door to clang shut. To her surprise, Kuranamori stood watching after her lover in the hallway.

"Hmm..?" The busty blonde turned around to face Tsubame and placed her fingers to one temple. "Great. How much did you hear, Pup?"

"N-none of it if that's how you'd pref-fer," she sputtered.

Shion waved a defeated hand in the air.

"Don't worry about it, Sweetheart. It's nothing really."

The longing gaze she cast back down the hallway indicated otherwise.

"Are you okay, Karanomori?" Tsubame moved to step between her and the pathway to the elevators. The woman before her was normally so relaxed and confident. Shion's uncertainty derailed Tsubame. She had no idea how to approach it.

"Truthfully, I don't know anymore," she sighed. "Actually, do you have a moment?"

Tsubame nodded, forgetting about having to return to the office at all. Her curiosity and her concern for Shion got the better of her as she followed the analyst into the lab. Everything was in it's usual place except for the fact that the door to Shion's room, which Tsubame had never noticed before, was still open. The pacing woman didn't even seem to realize, or perhaps care, that her place that was normally so hidden was wide open. When she settled herself in her swivel chair and folded her hands anxiously in her lap, Tsubame recognized an emotion she wasn't certain Shion was capable of written across her face; fear.

"Yayoi wants to get married."

Shocked at the apparent ease with which Karanomori admitted this to her, Tsubame could do nothing but wait for her to continue. Shion sighed before going on.

"I know what you're thinking and you're wrong. I would love to marry Yayoi, it's just… my Crime Coefficient…" She reached over and pressed a button on her keyboard, bringing up her homescreen. A widget blinked open and loaded, revealing a warning about an increase in her number as well as a clouding of her hue. The three digits that flashed across the screen were alarming even to Tsubame whose coefficient had peaked at 450 while she'd been in confinement. Shion's stone face said it all. She _couldn't_ marry Yayoi. Not like this.

"There's an application for functioning latent criminals to do these kinds of things… Normally one applicant is clear, or at least, not a latent criminal. With both of us in our current positions, there's just no way they'd approve it." Karanomori shrugged and closed out of the widget.

"But that isn't what's bothering you, is it?"

Shion raised an eyebrow at the woman in front of her, smirked, and closed her eyes.

"At this level I would certainly be sent for reassessment. SYBIL might decide to send me to therapy, or perhaps back into confinement. The few criminals I've seen be apprehended with this high of a coefficient triggered Eliminator mode on the Dominator. They'd probably put me down." The colloquialism sounded even colder in Shion's voice than it would have otherwise.

"How are you hiding this from the PSB now?" If she was found to be hiding such a thing, surely she'd be dealt with more severely.

"I have my methods," she assured Tsubame.

"So what will you do?"

"Honey, if I had the answer to that, do you think I'd be having this conversation with you? I was honestly hoping it would make more sense if I talked about it out loud. I just… I can't tell Yayoi. She's a pessimist. It would just cloud her hue as well."

Tsubame looked down at her hands.

"So you're just going to let her think that you don't _want_ to marry her?"

Karanomori slumped in her seat, no answer coming to mind. She finally shrugged, clearly baffled by her own predicament.

"You can't tell her," Shion insisted as Tsubame stood to leave.

"No," she agreed, "but you can."

"You've been hanging out with Gino too much," Shion laughed. "You sounded just like him. How's that going, by the way?"

The brunette's blush was all the answer that was necessary.

"He's pretty fond of you. And I can't really say that for sure about anyone else. I've known the man a long time. He doesn't let people in. Ever. You must be pretty special."

The idea that she could be "special" to Ginoza simultaneously set her heart aflutter and tied her stomach in knots. She'd never felt that important before. Wordlessly, she entered the hallway, the door to the lab sliding closed behind her. Her mind battled with itself over this revelation. It was nice to mean something to someone. It was also terrifying. She felt as though she'd just met Ginoza, and like she'd known him her entire life all at the same time. The Division One office was quiet when Tsubame returned. Yayoi had taken her place at her computer screen.

"Did you get lost?" Mika grumbled.

"I stopped in the restroom. By the time I made it to the lab, Yayoi had already passed me. Sorry, Inspector."

Though Shimotsuki and Tsunemori seemed to accept that answer, Ginoza cleared his throat from the seat next to her. Her instant messenger popped up on the sidebar of her computer screen.

**You have a tell, too. **

She smiled, but quickly closed the messenger, glancing discreetly across the office at him. A voice Maekawa had never heard before rang through on the office intercom asking for Ginoza to report to an unspecified office. When Ginoza stood to leave he smiled at Tsubame, but cast a somewhat anxious glance at Akane, who nodded for him to go. Once he'd left, Tsubame rolled her chair between Yayoi and Sho's to whisper her question.

"Who was that?"

"Chief Kasei." Sho's voice was even, but the corners of his mouth turned down slightly as the name escaped him

"It's probably about his report. He finished it in a hurry. He submitted it right as I walked in." Yayoi's tone seemed immensely uninterested. Her eyes were sad. Clearly her mind was elsewhere.

"Do you think it's bad?" The thought of the Chief somehow accusing Ginoza of deserting weighed heavily on her.

"Ginoza has a strange relationship with Chief Kasei. She's always tried to mold him into what she needed him to be. Perhaps she just wants to speak with him about something else." Yayoi's insightful suggestion surprised the other two. She had known Ginoza the longest of anybody who worked in Division One. It brought Tsubame's mind to ease. _Surely it was just that_.


	9. Confidants

"Mr. Ginoza," Chief Kasei welcomed him as he approached her desk, her fingers knit beneath her chin, as they often were. "Have a seat."

"We haven't spoken in a while," Ginoza commented, taking the chair before her giant desk. He did his best to relax into the seat and made a conscious effort to smooth his face but internally everything was chaos.

"I've had no reason to summon you in your current role," she explained, sounding almost bored. "But this isn't a courtesy call. I just read over your report from yesterday's festivities. It seems Division One had quite the situation on its hands at the community college."

"Yes ma'am," he agreed. He folded his hands in his lap.

"You caught up to the suspect?"

"I did," he nodded.

"How exactly did he remove your tracker?"

"I'm not sure of that, myself, Madam. I just know that when I realized it was missing and I'd lost sight of him, I returned to find Inspector Shimotsuki's Dominator pointed at me." Her glare at him from behind her thin eyeglasses told him that his answer was insufficient. He cleared his throat. "There was a scuffle. I was able to avoid being hit. Perhaps when I punched him the wristband got caught on his clothing. I don't think it was deliberate."

"Inspector Shimotsuki's report states that your wristband seemed perfectly intact when they came upon it. How on earth did your hand just slide through?" She shifted forward over her elbows and raised an eyebrow. "Shimotsuki's report also details the scene where your tracker was discovered in great detail. There was no blood and no sign of a fight."

"She _would_ say that," he muttered.

"Excuse me?"

"Chief Kasei, you have to believe me. I wasn't running away. I was trying to capture the suspect. I'm giving you all of the information I know."

She sighed and sat back in her chair.

"I looked up the reading from Inspector Shimotsuki's Dominator. Are you aware of your current coefficient?"

Now that she'd mentioned it, he hadn't checked himself today.

"You were reading so low, you weren't a target for Enforcement."

Ginoza's eyes widened.

"Today you're back up to your average, according to my door scanner, so don't go getting any crazy ideas," she shrugged. "Perhaps it was a Dominator malfunction. I've already called in to have Shimotsuki's analyzed. Regardless, I found it peculiar that returning from a fruitless chase would diminish your Crime Coefficient instead of increase it."

"I wouldn't know how to explain it either, Chief. I'm sorry I can't give you any further insight." He did his best to smile.

"Very well," she grumbled. He stood and bowed, excusing himself. He was nearly out the door before she called to him again. "Nobuchika, you've disappointed me once before. Try not to do it again."

* * *

The door closed behind him and he stepped out into the hallway. He couldn't put his finger on it, but ever since Kogami disappeared… _no, before then_… he'd had an uneasy feeling about Chief Kasei. Mika's obvious adoration of her probably had a bit to do with that. He returned to find the Division One employees gone to lunch; all but one. Yayoi sulked at her computer, prodding at the ramen she'd prepared for her meal with her chopsticks.

"You seem a bit gloomy today," Ginoza observed. She didn't respond. He took Sho's seat next to her. "Something wrong?" When she finally faced him, he recognized the worry in her eyes.

"It's Shion… She's not herself lately. Something's getting to her and she won't tell me what. I don't want to sneak around and figure it out myself, but if she won't tell me…" Her bangs cast a dark shadow over her eyes as she frowned down at her lunch.

"Why do you think that?" Ginoza hadn't ever known Shion to be one to keep things from Yayoi. Or really from anyone. The more the thought about it, Shion Karanomori was an open book to all of the Enforcers she worked with, and most of the Inspectors. When he'd been an Inspector she'd not failed to mention any little personal thing that might arouse some interest from him or Kogami, though that was before Yayoi's time at the Bureau.

"I… I tried to get her to talk about maybe wanting to get married at some point…" She couldn't believe she was telling him this. "She didn't outright refuse, but she didn't say yes. I don't know what to do Ginoza. If Shion's that afraid of commitment…"

"Don't go jumping to conclusions Kunizuka. You're starting to sound like me." He smiled encouragingly. "I'm sure things will work themselves out. They always do. Karanomori is crazy about you. She does whatever she possibly can to get your attention when we're all together. And she loves to show you off. She isn't going anywhere."

_Where the Hell did that come from? Was I just being optimistic? Supportive? Encouraging even. Odd._

Ginoza must've made a strange face at himself, because Yayoi smiled and shook her head.

"Are you feeling alright, Gino? You're not normally this…"

"I know," he shrugged. "I'm definitely not."

A giggle from the doorway startled them both, but Ginoza's chest filled with warmth when he turned to see Tsubame's smiling eyes following a tiny holo canary that Sho had programmed in his spare time. She fawned over how lifelike the tiny creature was. It drew a contented smile to Gino's thin lips.

"I wonder what could possibly have transformed our sour, anxious Ginoza into such a softie." Yayoi elbowed him hard, following his gaze across the room. Akane and Mika followed the other two into the office and everyone got back to work, Yayoi sending Ginoza back to his own desk with a forceful shove of Hinakawa's chair, which Gino promptly returned to his red-headed co-worker.

The day wore on as unextraordinarily as they had before the campus incident. Ginoza wandered aimlessly up to Akane's desk to see if she needed anything completed before her shift ended. When he leaned down and propped himself up on her desk, he noticed a rather large bruise on the side of her neck. Though his first instinct was panic, he realized that it couldn't have possibly occurred during their last call since she'd been away from the actual riot. Then it hit him. _Kogami_.

"Is something the matter, Mr. Ginoza?"

"Uh, no Inspector. I was just wondering if there was anything I could do for you before you head home."

"Nothing I can think of…" She checked the time on her communicator. "I should actually get going. I wanted to visit my grandmother's shrine on the way home."

"Let me walk you out," Ginoza replied, a little too hastily. Akane narrowed her eyes, but nodded, gathering her paperwork. When the elevator door closed, Akane broke the silence between them.

"Out with it, Gino, or else you might explode. You've been acting strange today."

"I think you already know." He scowled at her and poked at the bruise on her neck. "A friend of mine paid a visit yesterday and it seems he dropped by your place as well."

Akane's face flushed. Her ears flashed with heat as well as she quickly covered the spot Ginoza had pointed out on her neck. She hadn't thought to check for marks before coming to work. It was fortunate Mika hadn't seemed to notice.

"You're playing with fire, Inspector."

"If anyone would understand my fascination with fire, it's you." She stuck her chin out defensively. "You've known it longer than I have."

"That doesn't mean you should go setting your apartment on fire. Just… Be careful Akane. I already took a risk. I'm lucky. Yesterday I…" he closed his eyes. "Shimotsuki could've killed me yesterday. Why SYBIL didn't make that call, I'm still unsure. I just don't want to see you fall into this pattern like so many before you. You're too good of an Inspector."

"To be honest, Gino, I don't think becoming an Enforcer is the worst thing that could happen to me at this point. He's up to something. I don't know what, but it's big. And it has everything to do with us. This is only the beginning."

The elevator dinged as they reached the main level of Nona Tower. Ginoza followed Akane to the front door. She turned to glance at him over her shoulder, her bag hanging lazily from her elbow.

"Great." He rolled his eyes. Though his becoming an Enforcer had changed his worldview, he was still not one to cause waves. He tended to leave those things to Kogami and Akane. But he couldn't help but feel they were going to drag him into it despite his better judgement.

"Get some rest. I'll see you tomorrow."

The door slid silently back into place, reminding him that it was in fact not motion activated but worked based on nearby crime coefficients. Kogami's words rang in his ears as he mindlessly returned to the office. His head spun under the swirling current of contradiction in his mind, Shimotsuki's insults echoing under Kogami's desperate attempts to reject the reality of Japanese society as he had known it all his life. _I am a dog. My purpose is to hunt down criminals and to protect my handlers with my life. Nothing more._ He could see Shimotsuki smiling in his head at that. As he reached the office, Tsubame was walking out of the door.

"You okay?" She stopped just short of an arm-length from him.

"Wha- Yes. I mean, I'm fine. Don't worry about me. Just tired is all." She smiled, though he could tell she didn't buy his story.

"You did try to sleep on the floor last night. That can't have been comfortable." She walked past him toward the elevator. "Coming?"

"Right." He turned to follow her back to the Division One apartment.

"Are you sure you're okay? You seem agitated." Tsubame typed the code for their floor into the touchpad and the elevator started its ascent. He noticed then that she stood away from him, with one shoulder pressed to the wall.

"I'm just thinking about something I heard once, is all."

Tsubame dropped it, but kept glancing at her coworker through her hair. When the elevator door opened, neither made the first step to leave.

"Ginoza! Nice to see you! You don't hang around the Cafe much anymore!" The man who approached them was familiar to Tsubame, but she couldn't remember his name. She relaxed a bit when Gino smiled back at him.

"That's because every time I go down there, you idiots insist I go back to the Division Two apartment to get smashed." It was the first time Tsubame had ever heard Ginoza be so informal. He met the man in the hallway, leaving Tsubame alone in the elevator where she could feel herself tense at his sudden distance from her, a reaction she couldn't entirely make sense of. She joined the enforcers in the hallway.

"Sugo, have you met Ms. Maekawa? I don't think she spends much time in the Cafe with you morons."

_Teppei Sugo,_ she remembered as she timidly shook his hand. Akane had pointed him out to her during their initial tour of the tower.

"N-nice to meet you, Mr. Sugo," she stuttered, mentally facepalming at her inability to seem somewhat normal around strangers. She blushed at Ginoza's apparent worry as he shot a glance down at her.

"Likewise," he winked with a grin. "Hey Ginoza, isn't your birthday coming up?"

Ginoza's attention turned instantly back to his friend.

"I don't have a birthday," he insisted, grabbing Sugo's wrist as his calendar popped up on his communicator screen.

"Pft. Don't be like that, Gino. The guys want to celebrate. Even Sho wants to do something for you. You've been distant lately."

Though the accusation was true of course, Ginoza shook his head.

"I assure you, I'll be perfectly fine without a birthday party."

Suddenly, attaining this information became very important to the woman standing at his elbow.

"When is y-your birthday, Gino? I had no id-dea it was comin-ng up."

"Don't let it hurt your feelings, Hun, I'd bet Inspector Tsunemori doesn't even know."

"You forget that Akane Tsunemori involves herself in nearly every aspect of my life…" he grumbled. He turned his head to look at Tsubame. "My birthday is on the twenty-fifth."

"Christmas, if you celebrate that sort of thing," Sugo laughed. "Poor Ginoza can't slide under the radar on some other day of the year. Lots of people celebrate your birthday to some extent! Why shouldn't you?"

Ginoza shook his head.

"Remember when you asked why I don't hang out in the Cafe anymore?"

"Typical Ginoza," Sugo sighed.

"Back at you," he chuckled. "No parties. You'll have to excuse us, I would like to go get started on dinner. Tsubame?"

He turned to smile at her. Though she saw his cogency waver just a little, the shadow she'd noticed in his eyes had disappeared. Nodding, she waved and said goodbye to Sugo before following Ginoza down the hall to the apartment.


	10. No More Nightmares

Ginoza tossed his jacket onto the couch as they entered the apartment and wasted no time in rolling the sleeves on his white button down, loosening his tie and undoing the top button in the process. He began clattering through kitchenware, humming some indistinguishable tune as he set out a skillet and then rummaged through the refrigerator for ingredients.

Quietly, Tsubame sat at the counter across from the stove, studying his mannerisms. Unconvinced of his sudden contentedness, she watched for the facade to break.

"How does oyakodon sound to you?" He set some chicken and eggs out on the counter. She smiled and nodded before crossing her arms on the counter and resting her head atop them. "I could teach you to cook, if you'd be interested."

"That'd be nice," she replied shyly. "Kami knows I'm terrible at it."

"I was wondering if the stutter would go away," he smiled to himself, keeping his eyes on his work at the counter.

"You just had me worried," she admitted. "Are you okay? What did Chief Kasei want, anyhow?"

"Nothing important," he lied. She smirked.

"There it is again," she pointed. "You're lying to me."

"I am n… How did you..?" He huffed, defeated. "How do you know?"

"When you lie your left eyebrow twitches. Especially when your eyes are downcast."

He chuckled.

"What's so funny?"

"When you lie you wring your wrist in your hand behind your back."

"I do that when I'm nervous," she objected.

"You're nervous when you lie."

There was no arguing that. He smiled to himself as he went about preparing dinner. Setting the timer on the rice cooker, he tossed the hand towel he'd been carrying over his shoulder and leaned casually on the countertop across from her, catching his chin on a loose fist.

"I guess no more secrets, huh?"

"Guess so," she challenged, raising an eyebrow. "Just tell me, was it bad?"

"She was less than convinced by the report I submitted, but I assured her she had nothing to worry about; that I told her everything I know." He shrugged. "She didn't kill me on the spot, so I assume she believes enough of my story to let me be."

"Didn't _kill you on the spot_?! Was that within the realm of possibility?"

His mind's eye flashed to the parking garage under the Tower, a paddy wagon parked with its door down, Kogami standing at the entrance to it, pinned down by the business end of his own Dominator, somehow forced into Eliminator mode by a touch from Chief Kasei's spidery hand. He shook his head.

"I'm not really sure," he admitted. That was undoubtedly the day Kasei had been alluding to as he exited her office. He was supposed to eliminate the target on her order. He was supposed to kill his best friend. His best friend who'd somehow returned to Tokyo after fleeing the SYBIL system for nearly two years. He didn't even realize he'd started to hyperventilate. A cool hand on his face dragged him out of the dark, false reality into which he'd begun to plunge. He often had nightmares of that instant, only instead of getting to walk away, Kogami always ended up in tiny pieces on the concrete.

Tsubame wiped the tear that had spilled from the corner of his eye as he caught his breath, most of his weight resting heavily on the counter.

"Sorry," he gasped.

"You don't need to apologize for a panic attack," she soothed, brushing his hair out of his eyes. "What set it off?"

He explained his vision, the recollection of a horrific memory, but altered just enough to kill him from the inside out. Tsubame listened, wide-eyed as he described how the gun had shifted modes for no apparent reason other than Chief Kasei's will. They agreed that perhaps somehow a glitch in the weapon had been triggered by the contact of another hand.

"Just static electricity," Tsubame nodded.

"Yeah." He'd re-run the night in his head so many times that he was sure there's no way that was the answer. In spite of the elusive truth, that's the only thing that made sense. They both jumped at the buzzing timer on the rice cooker, which elicited laughter as they prepared their bowls. Opting for the couch instead of the countertop, they lounged in the living room as they ate, silently enjoying each other's company.

Gino set his empty bowl down. He hadn't realized how hungry he was.

"Did you just remember you didn't eat lunch?" Tsubame snickered behind her chopsticks.

"Oh right, I guess I didn't," he shrugged. A worried look crossed her face.

"Weren't you the one who insisted on me eating lunch on my first day?"

He scratched his head and grinned sheepishly, to which she flung a grain of rice in his direction. She finished her food and grabbed both bowls before Ginoza could protest. She found herself having to beat him to do chores around the apartment. Between the three of them who normally lived there, there wasn't ever much of a mess, but she felt the need to pull her own weight regardless. She hummed while she did the dishes, opting to wash them manually like Ginoza tended to do. He retrieved the bottle she'd woken up next to from his room and flopped back onto the couch. When she joined him, she sat on the opposite end of the same sofa, one leg hanging off and the other tucked under her, to look at him.

"I'm sorry if this morning put you off," he flinched, hoping she'd not changed her mind about staying with him again. It'd be nice to have someone around to ward off the panic attacks in the middle of the night.

"No, it didn't. Not really. How did I end up in there anyway?"

"When you're asleep you are difficult to wake. I didn't want to invade your privacy by not asking permission to enter your room, so I brought you to mine. I hope that was okay. Looking back at it now, perhaps it was stupid."

She shook her head.

"I don't think so. Thanks for being so considerate. That was… sweet of you…" she half-smiled and dropped her head, finding a loose thread on her pants to divert her eyes away from the gaze that tended to sweep her up in a wave of bluish jade.

"I meant what I said," he began, hesitantly. "It sounds naive; childish, even. But I have never fallen so hard for someone in my life. I'm at a loss with it, so I figure maybe we can figure it out together." He set the bottle on the coffee table, shimmering liquid swishing softly as it settled within its container.

"I believe you," she whispered, shrugging. "It makes me feel warm and fuzzy and terrified out of my mind at the same time. We both know that this won't be easy." She glanced up at him through her bangs in time to see the stunned look cross his face. _It won't be easy… as in she wants to try it?_ The tiniest of blushes answered his unspoken question.

"So then it's mutual?"

She nodded, but nervously chewed on her lip and wrung her hands, eyes darting to the window. He sighed a quick breath of relief before sitting forward to take her hands.

"No pressure, Tsubame. I don't want you to worry about it."

The swirling conflict on her face stilled, and she took a deep breath. Despite her reservations, she was having a hard time subduing the screaming in her head repeating "_just kiss him"_ in her own voice. In a fleeting moment of confidence, or perhaps lunacy, she lifted his human hand to her mouth and repeated his gesture from that morning, reveling in the off-guard mouth drop she received in return.

"Not a day goes by that you don't leave me completely stunned," he said as she dropped his hand. "You're more resilient than you think you are." She smiled at that. He had more confidence in her than anyone ever had.

"Well I hope that never changes," she smiled.

Neither of them feeling particularly tired, they retreated aimlessly back to Ginoza's bedroom where he flipped through the digital library of movies they could watch on the holo-wall. When he couldn't find a single title without some sort of romance/sex side plot, he gave up and played an album from his father's old playlist instead. Surprisingly, Tsubame seemed to know it.

"I didn't realize you listened to jazz," he noted, taking a careful seat on his bed away from her. "Not many people do. It's pretty old school, particularly this album."

"I was really into history as well as biology in school," she explained. "I like old things. There's just something grounding about learning about the past. Did you know it originated in the United States of America? It's a shame the Americans couldn't push their culture through the biotechnical age. Despite their bad rap for being completely consumed by themselves, some of the arts they developed were quite interesting."

"I'm pretty okay with Americans not being around anymore," Gino shrugged. "Weren't they the ones who initiated the first attacks in World War III?"

"Most history e-books and documentaries are divided on that. A lot of the bombing started at the same time across continents. By the time the dust settled, most Western governments were in shambles. Japan as a nation remained neutral. Since the island itself doesn't boast too terribly much for natural resources, none of the major players prioritized our alliance with them. We put up our defenses and let them sort it out," she shrugged.

"Sort it out they did," Ginoza huffed. "That was nearly a hundred years ago."

"Ninety," she corrected.

"Is there any truth to bits of Western countries surviving all of that?"

"Who knows? If they did they certainly haven't been able to return to their former prowess. I feel like they would've reached out to re-establish trade deals with Japan if they had."

Ginoza nodded, taking a swig of amber liquid and setting the bottle on the nightstand.

"Sad really," she sighed. "If Japan was able to build such a safe and stable system, surely others could've benefitted from it. Imagine how impossible terrorism would have been if SYBIL judged the entire world."

_Kogami still seemed to find a way_, he thought. The more he thought about it, the leftover anxiety from their encounter flared threateningly in his chest. He shook his head and took another pull from the bottle, a liquid calm seeping into him, taming his nerves. He knew he probably shouldn't feel that relieved just from drinking, but then again, he was his father's son. He chuckled.

"What's so funny?" Tsubame asked, trying to peek around him to see his face. He hadn't noticed her shift toward him.

"It's nothing to laugh at, actually," he smiled, closing his eyes. "Just thinking about how I'd never touched the stuff before my dad died." He swished the half-swig remaining to explain. "Now I can barely sleep without it."

She casually placed her hand on his shoulder, squeezing it gently in comfort.

"There are worse things. Maybe we can find another way to help you sleep." She reached across him for the bottle, unknowingly charging his senses with the wonderful smell of her hair. He scrunched his face, pained, as she took the bottle from his hand and brought it to her nose. He peeked when she coughed.

"Yeah, you definitely won't like that straight. Nobody really should," he chuckled.

"How can you drink that? It burns my nose just to smell it!"

"Practice," he admitted, almost pathetically. She handed it back to him and he set it on the nightstand, twisting the cap back onto it. Behind him, Tsubame crawled over to the far side of Ginoza's bed and scooted under the blankets, taking the long pillow from beneath the shorter ones and wedging it down the middle of the bed.

"There," she smiled, satisfied with herself. He nodded his acceptance of this and turned the lights off with his wristband. As he stretched down into his side of the bed, the corner of an object jabbed him in the side.

"What the… Huh. How'd that get here?" He relaxed into the mattress and held the picture frame at armslength, his frown morphing into a warm smile. Tsubame snuggled into the body pillow and peeked back up at the photo she'd noticed earlier that day, the same endearing tingle spreading across her face.

"That's an adorable picture," she murmured, barely audible above the soft jazz that filled the air.

"Before his demotion," he explained. His eyes lingered on the unwrinkled, keen-eyed man he'd known to be his father all those years ago. _Tomomi Masaoka. Head detective at the Ministry of Welfare, Public Safety Bureau, Division One. Recovered alcoholic. Invested father. My greatest hero._ It had been too long, he realized, since he'd seen his father in that light. The loss of the Masaoka honor and a blurring of his own future had shattered all of his childhood perspectives of the world. He glanced over at where he knew his father's jacket hung in the dark. _Tomomi Masaoka. Hound One Enforcer at the Ministry of Welfare, Public Safety Bureau, Division One. Relapsed alcoholic. Estranged father. And somehow, still my greatest hero. _A tear slid down the side of his face as he set the photo face up on the bedside table, and he was thankful Tsubame didn't seem to notice it. It occurred to him, not for the first time since they'd discussed his father together, that she probably feels similarly indebted to his father.

He peeked a glance over at her. Her hair swept messily around her face which perched atop the pillow that separated them. He could tell she fought the sleep that was steadily overcoming her. With a chuckle, he rolled onto his side to face her.

"Goodnight Tsubame," he whispered.

"Just Mae," she muttered, half-asleep. "My family always called me Mae."

He placed his hand next to hers on the pillow and was genuinely surprised when she shifted hers on top and pressed her fingers into the spaces between his. But he certainly didn't complain as his organs did flips inside his body.

"Mae," he smiled, squeezing her fingers gently. Her breathing evened and sleep found its way to both of them easily. For the first time since he'd been in a medically induced coma, there were no nightmares.


	11. A Gamble

Shion felt the bed dip as Yayoi finally sank into the mattress after a long night shift with Shimotsuki and Hinakawa. She knew her alarm was about to go off, so she quickly unset it on her wristband and rolled over to face her lover who she now realized was turned away from her.

"It's almost time for you to man the analysis lab," Yayoi mumbled. She pulled the covers up to her chin.

"I'm close enough to the computer if we get a callout. How was work?"

"The usual. The Chief called Ginoza down for a chat yesterday afternoon. I hope everything is okay. Other than that, nothing out of the ordinary happened. Hinakawa played with his holo, Shimotsuki filed some paperwork and unsuccessfully hid glances at me… All is well with Division One. I just can't wait for the other Divisions to finish filling their personnel out. Making us take four of seven night shifts a week is brutal."

Even Shion was taken aback by Yayoi's talkativeness. Something was wrong; and she could guess what it was.

"Babe, are you still upset about…"

Yayoi rolled over, blue eyes lined deeply with dark circles from fatigue.

"Shion, why? Just tell me why and I'll never bring it up again."

This was serious. Yayoi Kunizuka does not beg. For _anything_. The desperation on her face ripped at Shion's chest. She brought a hand to rest on the smooth surface of Yayoi's cheek, thumb brushing her bottom lip.

"You really think it's something to do with you, don't you?"

The panic rose from Yayoi's chest to her face, spilling from the corners of her eyes as the brunette tried to blink tears away.

"Kami I'm an idiot. Come here," Shion pulled Yayoi across the bed and wrapped her in a hug. "It's not you." She sighed before readjusting them so that Yayoi was lying on her back and held her wrist so the two of them could see the holoscreen. Pulling up her Coefficient Tracker app, she pursed her lips, glancing over at her girlfriend.

"What is it?"

Shion silently opened the menu, tapped a few settings, entered a password and…

"Is… Is that… How?"

"How is my coefficient so high? Or how has my cloudy ass not been dragged off to ISO? You'll have to be more specific." There was no malice in her voice; only the tinge of defeat at knowing this could be the start of her end. Yayoi reached up and closed the screen.

"They'd never let us get married. If I go and apply for a license, SYBIL will dispatch Akane and Mika directly to the lab. With a number like that…" She hadn't noticed her own voice crack, or the tear that had apparently escaped down her cheek until Yayoi brushed it away.

"Shhh. Don't talk like that. We can get this under control. Why didn't you just tell me?" Her brow furrowed over her tired blue eyes.

"I… I didn't want to cloud your hue too. I'm lucky. I can literally avoid walking past any scanner. I don't have to leave this suite for any reason if I'm really worried about it. You can't do that. For Kami's sake there's a door scanner on the door to your room!"

"Well the alternative wasn't much better," Yayoi joked, trying to lighten the mood. "I was worried you'd decided monogamy wasn't your thing anymore."

"Baka," Shion chided, tugging a tendril of Yayoi's jet black hair which fell messily over one shoulder, free of its usual ponytail.

"Back at you."

"I can accept that," the blonde laughed. Yayoi launched a surprise attack, rolling on top of Shion and pinning her arms to her sides, blocking out the rest of the world in a dark curtain of hair. "Well that put you in a better mood."

"Don't do that to me ever again," the Enforcer warned. "I'm not some pretty little flower. I can take the truth. I need the truth."

Shion purred, pouting a bit as she struggled to no avail to pull her arms free.

"Shion, seriously. You have to trust me with things like this. It's important. Lying about it doesn't protect my hue any more than just telling me would have done."

"I'm sorry," Yayoi's captive finally sighed in defeat. A rare, exhilarated smile crept across Yayoi's face, making them both laugh. She settled herself closer to Shion's face and closed her eyes, allowing Shion to pull her arms free of restraint. Long, crimson fingernails traced light patterns up and down her back, relaxing her slowly down onto her girlfriend.

"I love you," Shion whispered through Yayoi's hair. For a moment Yayoi wished she'd been able to record that, just so she could replay it when she would inevitably begin to doubt her ability to keep a woman like Shion Karanomori interested in a plain, quiet girl like herself. Shoving the intrusive thought aside, Yayoi dipped her head and placed a chaste kiss atop Shion's collarbone.

"You should sleep," Shion chided, chuckling. In response, Yayoi traced the tip of her tongue along the length of the other woman's clavicle, warm breath seeping through skin and triggering a shiver that traveled down to Shion's toes. Hands wound their way instinctively into long dark hair, but she regained enough control to consciously tug Yayoi's head away from her, catching her want-laden eyes in that silent "you're-impossible-you-know-I-have-to-get-up-now" scolding glare.

"Problem?" Yayoi quipped, quirking an eyebrow down at her visibly flustered analyst.

"Impossible," Shion sighed, taking Yayoi off-guard and flipping them, grabbing her wrists and pressing them into the mattress at her sides. Normally Yayoi was quick to submit, but she struggled against Shion's grip. "Even when you're tired you're strong enough to beat me. I need to work out," Karanomori laughed. Unable to resist the adorable defiance in Yayoi's features, she leaned down and slipped her tongue between chapped lips, kissing any of the raven-haired woman's desire to rebel against her into oblivion. "That's better," Shion murmured, shifting to grind her thigh between Yayoi's legs, drawing a tiny squeak from her. The fierce gleam in the blonde's eyes told Yayoi she'd won and lost at the same time, and she relaxed further into their bed, eyes flickering at another deliberate assault beneath the covers as one of Shion's hands abandoned her wrist and snaked down her stomach.

Shion disappeared under the comforter, Yayoi's hands quickly chasing her soft hair to find purchase as a burning sigh seared into her core.

"You can pay me back later. Just you and then _sleep_, Yayoi," Shion murmured, leaving no space for argument as she planted a tactical kiss on the inside of Yayoi's thigh. The latter was unable to suppress an impatient groan as she spread her legs wider to allow her lover better access to her. "Always so willing," Shion teased, looking up at the woman coming apart above her. "This might be the most vanilla we've been in months," she observed. A frustrated Yayoi tugged insistently on Shion's hair, each syllable sending tiny electric shockwaves up her abdomen. Shion snickered inwardly as she caved to the brunette's desire, dragging her tongue roughly across one of her favorite places to pay worship to her girlfriend's body. When Yayoi started to buck lightly beneath her ministrations, Shion pulled away, earning an irritated huff from above.

"Restraint, Love. Do you need me to get out the cuffs? You'd like that, though, wouldn't you?" She nipped at the soft skin at Yayoi's right hip, a desperate whimper the only answer to Shion's practically rhetorical question. She bombarded Yayoi with sudden kisses and swipes of her tongue, completely decimating any chance of the Enforcer keeping herself in one piece. She lifted her hips off the mattress and her breath hitched in her throat before releasing in a barely human-sounding groan as she crumbled into an uncontrollable heap of shivering, twitching limbs. Shion watched as Yayoi rode out her climax, smiling warmly down at the only person she ever wanted to be with like this ever again. She pressed a grounding palm firmly down onto Yayoi's center, quieting the violent aftershocks of her orgasm.

"Sleepy?" the blonde smiled. Yayoi barely nodded her assent. "Good. Goodnight, Love." She leaned down and pecked Yayoi on the cheek, brushing her sweat-soaked hair out of her face.

"Good morning, koishii," Yayoi panted. The contented hum from Shion solidified Yayoi's defeat against the weight in her eyelids as she pulled the blankets closer to her chin.

"Good girl," Shion grinned, moving to stand and make her way to the shower.

* * *

Something had shifted between Ginoza and Maekawa, but Akane couldn't put her finger on what it could be. After several conversations with Gino, it was fairly obvious that their relationship was more than platonic, but she was never able to catch anything physical between them. Perhaps it was just her mind projecting what she wanted to see onto the two of them. Yeah, they were Enforcers, so yeah, they didn't have much of a social life considering their practical imprisonment within the Bureau, but damnit, at least they could walk around the Tower and do regular things together like normal people, unlike certain individuals who had SYBIL on their tail and a secret, conspiratorial agenda. She shook her head, breaking the intense glare she'd cast down at her keyboard.

"Did you hear a word I just said, Akane?" Ginoza searched her face, worry furrowing his brow. "Are you alright?"

"Sorry, Gino, I'm fine. Just thinking. What were you saying?"

Ginoza ducked closer to her.

"Another letter, Akane. There's another letter. But this one's only got a few things written on it… Looks to be coordinates and a date and time. This afternoon at 3pm."

Akane had to look around to even remember who was on shift with her. Just Gino and Maekawa, then. She glanced down at the paper in Ginoza's hand.

"Have Shion run the numbers and get Yayoi up. I'll call Inspector Shimotsuki. Tsubame, go tell Hinakawa he needs to be up and ready to go in three hours. We've got an invitation, it seems."

"I don't like it," Gino protested.

"It's not your job to not like it, Gino," Akane corrected, apologetically. "We can't just do nothing. I get the feeling it's what he wants. So fine then, let's go hear him out, huh?"

Ginoza shook his head, glancing over at Tsubame, who stood conflicted between her desk chair and the door. Gino nodded to her and she tore out of the room en route to the Division One suite.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Inspector."

"That makes two of us," Akane sighed with a shrug. She hadn't seen Kogami in a week and a half since he'd shown up unannounced at her apartment. She hoped it was because he'd rethought his plan and had decided to lay low. Apparently that was too much to hope for. She dreaded the meeting SYBIL might want to demand of her if they discovered she knew it was him. They'd kill her for sure.

Against Shimotsuki's better judgement, Akane decided it best to leave the paddy wagon at HQ and load the Enforcers into the Inspectors' personal vehicles.

"The last time we went in, guns blazing, it started a riot. The coordinates point us to the mall in the middle of downtown. We're _not_ taking the cruisers, and the paddy wagon is even more obvious."

Shimotsuki rolled her eyes, but could offer no counterpoints. They loaded into the cars in the garage and headed for the mall. In favor of efficiency, they broke off into squads, Akane assigning Tsubame and Hinakawa to go with her grumpy and agitated coworker.

"You guys run the perimeter on the mezzanine. If you see anything, radio in and we'll cover the ground. Hinakawa, get your holos ready to create a distraction. Tsubame, keep an eye out for anyone with a motorcycle helmet. Got it?"

The two nodded and headed for the escalators, Mika following begrudgingly behind them. Akane turned to her ground team.

Don't go so far away you can't see me. We need to comb this place through, but I don't want to be too far away to help like last time."

"Yes, Inspector," Yayoi affirmed. She slipped through a wall of teenage mall patrons, eyes scanning the crowd.

"Ginoza?" Akane waved a hand in front of the Enforcer. She followed his gaze up a level to the brunette running along the railing of the mezzanine. He snapped back to attention as her hand crossed his line of vision.

"S-sorry," he smiled sheepishly, anxiety pouring off of him.

"You can't protect her if you don't focus. You know that. I'm pretty sure you told me something like that once."

"Back when I was wise and all-knowing. Yes, I'm sure I did," he sighed, scratching his head. "He wouldn't hurt them, would he?"

She shook her head.

"He knows it's not their fault. They don't make the rules. They just pull the trigger. Just like he used to do. Don't worry." Despite her words, she felt the knot settle in her stomach. Akane trusted Shinya, more than she trusted herself even, but she didn't know anything about these "associates" he'd spoken of. Would they be as understanding of the people SYBIL used as tools to secure its reign?

"Nothing unusual in the Northern wing. I'm headed back your way." Shimotsuki's voice snapped both of them to attention. Ginoza nodded to Akane before disappearing down the giant hallway, narrowly avoiding being trampled by a group of University students parading out of a shop entrance. It occurred to Akane for the first time that the three major colleges in the immediate vicinity were all on holiday.

"He could be trying to incite another riot. There are a lot of young people here. They tend to be more pliable as far as their hues go." Akane began scanning the faces around her as she hissed into her earpiece. She hoped she didn't look too conspicuous. She'd at least had the foresight to have them all change into casual clothing in the car.

"Great," Ginoza grumbled. She could imagine the contempt on his face for his former best friend. This would make their jobs much more difficult. The Inspector and her lookouts met up unexpectedly at the far end of the food court. The marquee and the jumbotron at the center of the room reminded them disturbingly of their last encounter with their mysterious helmeted instigator.

"Akane, there's a helmeted individual at your four o'clock," Shimotsuki radioed.

"And one at your six, Gino," Hinakawa's report chimed.

"I can see one too, over by the shaved ice stand," Yayoi murmured, not looking at either of her companions who stood casually apart.

"What the Hell," Ginoza cursed. He reached his hand into his jacket to grab the grip of his concealed Dominator. Yayoi's hand found its way into the backpack she'd slung over her shoulder to hide her weapon.

"Do NOT draw your Dominators," a male voice buzzed in their ears. Akane, Ginoza, and Yayoi froze, eyes darting around, trying to determine which concealed figure was Kogami. They all looked incredibly similar.

"How is he…" Shimotsuki wondered.

"Tsubame!" Ginoza's heart jumped to his throat.

"Shimotsuki, where is Enforcer Maekawa?"

"Shit. Maekawa?" Kogami looked down at the dark haired Enforcer.

Up on the Mezzanine, around a corner near a custodial closet, Kogami had grabbed whom he recognized as one of the new Enforcers from the college riot and taken her earpiece. She looked up at him, wide-eyed and hyperventilating, his hand over her mouth, as the voice of the man began bouncing around and ringing bells in her mind. She'd heard his voice before, but she couldn't place it.

"What've you done with Maekawa?" Shimotsuki demanded. Kogami removed the earpiece, muttering to himself. He looked down at his captive.

"Stay calm. It's alright. I'm not going to hurt you. You're safe." _You're safe now. We're going to get you help. Mr. Masaoka is going to take you out to our car, okay? He's going to keep everyone else away from you. You're going to be okay._ When she seemed to settle down, he dropped his hand away from her face and loosened his grip across her torso.

"M… Mr. Kogami?" she whispered.

"Shh… It's a secret."

"But… Why?"

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small electronic box, a piece of paper taped to the back.

"Give this to Ginoza. Don't tell Akane about it. This can only work if she doesn't know everything. SYBIL will figure it out. Gino's hue is already compromised. They won't suspect him if he darkens from this."

"O-okay…"

"Sorry for grabbing you. I'm sure it caused you more stress than I intended to inflict. I apparently have that effect on people. I'm actually really glad to see you alive."

"Y-you're planning to use m-me as a human sh-shield, aren't y-you?" She glared at him, her breathing steadying.

"Just for a sec," he promised.

"Fantastic." She glanced over in the direction of her least favorite Inspector. "Y-you know she'll shoot me, right?"

"That's why I'm going to put you between me and Ginoza. I want to see if Shimotsuki's Dominator will register me. I don't think Akane would aim hers at me." He pushed her out onto the balcony, a pistol to her head.

"And if Shimotsuki's gun _does_ regis-ster you?"

"I haven't thought that far ahead yet," he chuckled. A cold chill ran down her spine


	12. The Message

_**A/N: I'm baaaaaack! First, let me apologize for the extended hiatus. As I'm sure a few of you may be able to relate, particularly if you identify with Ginoza or Tsubame, mental illness is a real bitch of a mistress, and she does not discriminate. No worries, though. I am well and ready to pick this baby back up where I left off. **_

* * *

Shocked screams and the sounds of people dropping shopping bags greeted Tsubame and Kogami as they approached the railing of the mezzanine.

"He has a gun! Look out! He has a real gun!"

"Somebody call the PSB! Set off a sensor!"

"No, look! They're already here! Get out of the way! Sora! Move!" A bystander shoved his friend across the hallway and out of the way as Shimotsuki crossed the distance between them, Dominator drawn, but not yet aimed.

Kogami did his best to pretend that he didn't notice her approach. He scanned the floor below, quickly finding Ginoza's anger-riddled expression in the crowd.

"He likes you a lot," he observed quietly in Tsubame's ear. She blushed, but didn't reply. "When this all plays out and I make a run for it, I need you to distract him somehow."

"What? W-why? You didn't have a p-plan for that?"

"Oh I do," he chuckled, "but, you see, I'd hoped he'd be the one I'd catch and get a chance to talk to. Now I've gone and pissed him off. And, despite the fact that he's always been a shitty tracker, Nobuchika Ginoza can outrun me."

"Fine. But don't expect me to continue to help you. Not l-like this." She shrugged a shoulder against his loose grip around her neck.

"Wouldn't dream of it. I really am sorry."

"Whatever. Here sh-she comes."

Inspector Shimotsuki slid to a halt a few meters away from them.

"Freeze! Put the gun down and step away from my Enforcer."

They both watched carefully as the gun scanned the helmeted trouble-maker. A confident sound escaped him when her eyes glowed blue and her face fell. It hadn't picked him up. SYBIL can't see him.

"What the Hell? Akane, it doesn't even register there's a person in front of me!"

"Perfect," Kogami reported over Tsubame's shoulder. "Until next time, Miss Maekawa."

With that, he pointed his gun over the rail and pulled the trigger, a flare sending thick smoke into the crowd below. It was followed by the firing of several other flare guns from the handful of Kogami's allies on the first floor. In the smoke, Tsubame lost track of Ginoza, but she knew he was coming for her. It wasn't a full second later that she heard his voice above the din.

"Gotta go," he mumbled, releasing her. As best she could, Tsubame faked a faint, only to feel the hard support of Ginoza's bionic arm catch her from behind, his other hand finding her face.

"Tsubame, are you alright?"

She nodded weakly. Remembering the item in her left hand, she lifted it to the palm on her face and slipped it discreetly under Gino's fingers. She tried to convey as much gravity in her gaze as she could. Shimotsuki coughed loudly through the smoke as she approached, Dominator returned to its holster.

"Damnit. He got away again!" She inspected the two of them briefly before spotting Hinakawa over Ginoza's shoulder.

"We need to get out of the mall. Spread out and find them. Now."

* * *

The smoke set off the fire alarms and, subsequently, the sprinkler system in the building. Tsubame watched Gino quickly stow the cartridge away into the breast pocket of his jacket so as to keep it dry. The entire building was promptly evacuated by drones. In the mass exodus, all helmeted individuals were lost to the crowd.

Division Two pulled up as the Division One Enforcers were being loaded back into Akane and Mika's vehicles. Mika and Akane moved to intercept their co-workers before they opened their paddywagon door. Having elected to sit in the back of Akane's car with Ginoza instead of in the front seat, Tsubame rested her head carefully on his shoulder, fatigue setting in for the day.

"He scared the Hell out of me," she admitted after a while. Ginoza agreed silently, gently leaning his head to touch his cheek to her hair.

"He tends to do that," Gino grumbled, glancing down at her. After removing the glove from his organic hand, he flipped it over on his own thigh in offering. Tsubame took a deep breath, but he could feel her smile against his shoulder. Her hand came to rest in his upturned palm, the icy reality of her fingers in his a welcome sensation, though not entirely comforting. That's when Akane silently took her seat in front of them.

"Ms. Maekawa, are you alright?" she asked as she entered the address for Nona Tower and looked over her shoulder. Ginoza smiled to himself, taking note that Tsubame stayed decidedly still, despite being caught in a rather vulnerable moment.

"I'll be fine. I'd just really like to go home now," she murmured. Akane glanced at Gino, trying to read the situation. In answer, he gently squeezed Tsubame's hand. Though she seemed calm, he could feel the occasional shivering of her body the longer they sat there. Akane nodded and they returned to Headquarters. By the time they reached the parking garage, Tsubame was falling apart. Silent tears fell down her cheeks and her body shook with the effort of suppressing sobs. Panic shone across her face, eyes glazed over by whatever nightmare was replaying itself to its hostage. Akane pulled open her wristband.

"Ms. Maekawa, I think you should take the day off tomorrow. Your hue…" Akane's voice drifted at Ginoza's warning glare. She watched silently, stunned, as Ginoza brought the back of Tsubame's hand to his lips and began speaking to her so quietly, the Inspector could barely hear what he was saying.

"List five things you can see," he instructed. Her eyes wandered around the interior of the car, her mouth ghosting over the names of the shapes in front of her: windshield, steering wheel, seat belt, Inspector Tsunemori, thermos.

"List four things you can feel," Ginoza whispered, pointedly keeping his lips on her hand. Along with the weight of her damp jacket, the pull of the seat belt, and the cool, smooth leather of the car seat, she looked at Ginoza for the first time since they left the mall and mentioned his breath of the back of her hand. Her ragged gasps for air began to subside.

"Three things you can hear," he prompted. It was rather quiet, so Akane fidgeted with her bracelet to give Tsubame something to hone in on. She also mentioned a passing car and her own heartbeat.

"Two things you can smell," he smiled. Tsubame was able to take a deep breath, which would help to slow her racing heart.

"Lingering cigarette smoke… Spinel?" Tsubame looked around and discovered the pack in Akane's center console. Akane blushed. "And whiskey," she continued, casting an accusatory glance his way. The scowl from Akane was worth it.

"And something you can taste?"

"Blood," she admitted, chewing on her chapped bottom lip. "Thank you, Gino," she smiled, though it lacked her normal mirth.

"Perhaps I learned a few useful things from my fake therapist after all," he winked at Akane. Tsubame quirked a brow, confused, but let it go. Akane rolled her eyes.

"Let's get her upstairs," she suggested, getting out of the car in front of them. She had to open the doors from the outside, as they were child-locked per PSB protocol. They crossed the parking garage to catch up to the other half of Division One who waited for them at the door to the facility. Yayoi had become the target of Inspector Shimotsuki's newest crusade, most likely for an ill-concealed eyeroll. Sho stood casually against the wall, his holoscreen flashing news reports in front of him.

"They're calling it a cooking fire incident," he observed aloud. "As if one of the robotic food pagodas in the mall could catch fire before the system's fail-safe would shut it down…"

Mika and Akane shared a look and stepped aside while the Enforcers read the story over Sho's shoulder. They would need to discuss this upstairs, possibly with Chief Kasei. Mika was convinced her Dominator had been tampered with. To prove it, she pulled it out of her bag and pointed it at Ginoza, who was too focused on Tsubame's mental state to really even notice.

"It's already been in for maintenance, but look!" She squeezed the trigger and it didn't budge. "Locked. It's reading him at 64!" she hissed.

"What?" Akane glanced over at Ginoza. His hand was still entwined with Tsubame's. To cross-check the data, Akane discreetly pulled her own gun and pointed it at Ginoza.

_Crime Coefficient: 64. Target is a registered Enforcer. System error: re-calculating Crime Coefficient… _

Akane shook her Dominator in disbelief as it ran the stats again.

_Crime Coefficient: 64. Target is a registered Enforcer. System error… _The gun's voice repeated.

"Weird, I'm getting his usual number," Akane whispered to her partner. The thrum of hope in Akane's chest perked her spirits. Perhaps her old mentor could be rehabilitated! But she had to be sure. For now, Mika needed to believe her gun was malfunctioning.

Akane ushered them all inside. The Division Two Inspectors and their team walked through the doors to the Bureau-owned vehicle garage. Inspector Domoto and Enforcer Sugo approached the group where Division One was waiting for an elevator. Akane noticed Tsubame drop Gino's hand and step so that she was mostly behind him.

"So what happened? Did they outsmart you again, Gino?" Sugo poked as he came to a stop next to Tsubame and Ginoza. Gino's silence relayed the answer.

"If we'd had backup sooner, we could've secured a perimeter." Ginoza's sharp eyes pierced back at his friend, and though he chuckled, Akane could tell he wasn't in the mood.

"What's that about, anyway?" Domoto asked, turning to Akane. "You could've given us a bit of a heads-up."

"We thought a covert mission would be most effective. There were no indications that our single helmeted culprit was in cahoots with a network of helmeted culprits. We weren't expecting an ambush." Akane crossed her arms and stuck her chin up at Domoto. He held up his hands in defeat.

"Hey, you don't gotta convince me." He was right, of course. It was SYBIL itself she needed to convince. She hoped she could. The elevator dinged and Division Two filed in, followed by Yayoi, Sho, and Mika.

"There's still room," Shimotsuki directed, holding the door.

"I think we'll just wait for the next one," Ginoza disagreed, glancing to Akane. He felt relief flood him as his superior seemed to agree that getting into a crowded elevator was not good for Tsubame. Mika shrugged and the door closed. Gino waited a few minutes before slamming his robotic fist into the wall. He quickly apologized when Tsubame and Akane both jumped. Whatever it was, and Akane had a few ideas, they couldn't talk about it here, especially not with their Dominators online. She pressed the homing button on hers to call over the weapons locker from the paddywagon. It rolled up through the sliding glass doors from the parking garage and each of them deposited the guns in their holsters.

"I'll have to turn in the rest of them on my way out," Akane noted to no one in particular. "Wanna go up to the balcony?"

Ginoza reached into his pocket, generating the flask from which Tsubame must've detected the whiskey smell in the car and took a swig in a very Masaoka fashion, though Masaoka didn't ever seem to have the temper that Ginoza toted.

"Can we talk up there?" Tsubame asked, reaching out to brush Ginoza's hair from his face. Akane nodded and pressed the button to recall the elevator.

They stepped outside on the balcony as the sun set over the buzzing city. The wind cut across the building like daggers, but the three of them were able to find space in a corner of the balcony that was shielded enough by the rest of the building. Ginoza leaned heavily on the wall and pulled open his holoscreen. A bitter laugh escapes him.

"If he keeps this up, I'll be sent to ISO before Christmas," he choked, turning the screen to Akane.

_That's not possible,_ she thought, shaking her head.

"Just downstairs you weren't even a target for enforcement," Akane mumbled, just loud enough to hear. Tsubame scowled.

"Pointing your Dominator at your hunting dogs again?"

It seemed when it came to protecting Ginoza, all the stops were pulled with Tsubame.

"Mika noticed it," Akane defended. "I just double checked. Gino, you were down to 64."

But he didn't appear to be listening. In her anger, Tsubame's coefficient, which was also visible on Ginoza's screen, spiked to 300 and her panic attack resumed. He pressed his human hand to her face, holoscreen all but forgotten at his side. Akane watched in surprise as both of their numbers plummeted at the contact, Maekawa's to 135 and Ginoza's to sub-enforcement levels.

"What is going on?" she asked, exasperated. "Gino, look!"

"That's… odd." He pulled his hand away from Tsubame and their numbers climbed back up, hers to her average 180 and his to a slightly increased 146.

"Okay, we'll address that later. Now did he say anything to you?" Akane turned to Tsubame. She shook her head.

"Just that he wanted to test something. Whatever it was, it worked. That's when he decided to retreat." She shot a dangerous look at Ginoza as he reached for his concealed breast pocket. "He said not to…" she warned Gino. He appeared to get the hint, but now Akane was looking awkwardly between them. "I mean… follow him, that is," she covered. It worked, somehow. "He doesn't seem to want to hurt anyone, especially not you, Inspector Tsunemori. I… uh… recognized him. He's Mr. Kogami, the Inspector who was in charge of Masaoka the day they rescued me."

"Good, now we're all on the same page at least," Akane sighed. "I guess we just wait for his next move… Now then, about your Crime Coefficients. No PDA in front of Inspector Shimotsuki unless it's life or death. I don't want her to keep reporting faulty equipment to Chief Kasei, and I don't want her to know that there are times during the day when your number falls under regulation, Ginoza. Especially since we don't really know why. We don't need to bother the Chief about that." Akane flinched. What she wanted to say was _don't tell the Chief anything because the Chief is actually SYBIL and if the floating brains find out that you can somehow override their judgement of you they'll come after you like they did Makishima and Kamui as asymptomatic criminals_. Obviously, that was not a wise choice of information to let slip, though she had to admit it was getting pretty stressful being the only one who knew. Any time Ginoza got called into her office, Akane had to busy herself to distract her mind from the possibility that he wouldn't come back. But they had to keep up appearances to Gino. If Chief Kasei suddenly stopped talking to Gino for no apparent reason, it'd be suspicious to him.

"Do you think it could stick?" Ginoza wondered aloud. Akane shrugged, not wanting to get his hopes up in case it didn't. A change in the wind berated them with force and they had no choice but to take shelter back in the building where their conversations could no longer be as open as out on the balcony where the wind, as much as it tore at their skin at this elevation, kept their voices from being recorded effectively. Though neither Ginoza nor Akane had ever admitted that to each other, that is ultimately the reason they'd had so many conversations out there. Akane walked the Enforcers to the Division One suite, placing them on-call for the rest of the evening. She then went to collect Dominators from the remaining team members in the office. Once they were alone and behind the closed door, Ginoza found his way to Tsubame's side.

"Are you feeling better?" he asked, leaning slightly on the counter.

"Sort of. I'm glad you got my drift up there," she smirked, patting his chest where the device remained concealed. Gino nodded and turned to the kitchenette.

"Dinner?" He removed his jacket and slipped the little black box into his pants pocket before rolling up his sleeves. The level of discretion Akane had shown for their conversation earlier had put Ginoza on edge, and Tsubame was picking up on it.

"I'm not terribly hungry." Panic attacks did little for her already miniscule appetite.

"Would you eat some rice if I made some for myself?" He'd discovered the best way to get her to eat was not to guilt or force her into it, but to make it convenient for her. But even then, there was little pressure on her to finish the food, since it was technically his.

"I could maybe steal a little from you, yeah," she sighed. Ginoza set the rice cooker and grabbed a drink from the refrigerator, moving to the couch to sit with Tsubame while they waited. As they sat down, Ginoza pulled the device from his pocket and examined it, pleased to find it had an old-fashioned auxiliary port for corded headphones, which he happened to have in his room. He scooped the rice into a bowl, grabbed two sets of chopsticks, and they retreated to his bedroom. He grabbed the headphones and plugged them in, searching for a play button. Tsubame took one headphone and stuck it in her ear from where she lay next to him atop the body pillow. He examined the note stuck to the device. It appeared to be a random list of numbers scribbled on a notecard.

"What does that mean?" Tsubame asked, scooping a mouthful of rice onto her chopsticks.

"It looks like a cypher," Ginoza mumbled. He pressed a button on the side of the device and an holo keyboard with characters from a foreign alphabet appeared. "Damnit Ko…"

"I think Sho can help us with this," Tsubame suggested, looking at the time on her wristband. "He and Yayoi should technically be off soon. Division Three is overnight tonight."

Frustrated, Ginoza removed the headphone from his ear and buried his face in his hands. _Where do you want me to start with this, Kogami? From where exactly am I supposed to pull what appear to be characters from the Latin alphabet in presumably a language I don't speak to create a word in said language that I don't speak? _

"I think I've seen those symbols before," Tsubame mumbled behind the chopsticks pressed to her lips. "I can't read them, but I think they're from the script that people used to write in English with. I can't read it, but that one looks really familiar." She pointed to the "K" key on the holo.

"Why couldn't it just use kana?" Ginoza complained. He glanced at the cypher code on the notecard and counted. _Ten characters, then. _

They both sat up and turned towards the door at the sound of Kunizuka and Hinakawa setting their things down in the living room. Ginoza quickly got to his feet and peeked out of his door and down the hallway. Chewing on a chopstick, Tsubame stared at the keyboard, completely at a loss. Gino explained the situation as Yayoi and Sho entered his room, both of them shocked to find Tsubame sitting cross-legged in his bed. He waved away their bug-eyed expressions and warned Yayoi of the smile on her face before returning to his spot on the bed and pointing to the keyboard.

"I could try to just hack it," Sho offered. Ginoza shook his head.

"Knowing Ko…" he stopped himself, realizing he wasn't sure how much Hinakawa knew. Clearing his throat, he began again from a different angle. "This device was procured from the most intelligent, tenacious, and paranoid man I have ever known. I would hazard to guess that it is fairly tamper-proof at the expense of the data it contains."

"I read the file," Sho admitted, scratching his head. "After you guys lied to Shimotsuki about going to see Professor Sugo, I had to know what was so important." Ginoza and Yayoi's mouths both dropped open. "Don't worry," the redhead added, holding his hands up, "I was able to delete the log of which patient you went to see when I hacked into the Psych Ward's system. And then I covered my virtual tracks with a few proxys when I looked up Kogami's file."

First to recover from the shock, Yayoi strode over to the device and examined it.

"Isn't that an English keyboard?" She began to loosen the black tie at her throat. "Look." From under her button-down, Yayoi retrieved a small silver chain with a guitar pick hung on it. The words, "Ernie Ball," were etched in gold foil on the tiny plastic triangle. "Ernie Ball isn't in business anymore, at least that's what I thought since it was an American guitar string company. These are 3D printed copies of the originals. But they are absolutely authentic."

There was no denying that the guitar pick's script was from that alphabet that lay before them. Sho got to work pulling up the alphabet on his own holoscreen.

"Looks like there are twenty-six letters total. What are the numbers on the cypher?"

Ginoza rubbed his eyes and took another look at the card.

"There are ten sets of three data entries grouped together. The first one reads 2-17-1."

"And the letters need to be in English…" Tsubame thought aloud. Yayoi gasped, startling all three of them.

"The letters!" She ran to her room to retrieve the two mysterious handwritten letters they'd received in the mail. She set them down on the bed next to Ginoza in the order that they were received.

"Yayoi, you're a genius!" Ginoza smiled. "Sho, can you get this translated from kanji to whatever the Hell that is?" He pointed at the offending keyboard. Hinakawa nodded and got to work as he knelt next to the bed. Using the letters themselves to record his work, he was able to transcribe the first letter in about fifteen minutes thanks to a web-app he accessed through a backdoor in a classified sector of SYBIL's own foreign affairs server. Taking the first number of each data set to mean which document to use, Ginoza and Tsubame decoded four letters and wrote them down on the notecard. After another twenty minutes of the web-app processing the second document, it spat out the translation, which the four of them then used to decode the remaining six letters. Once they'd finished they translated the English word back into Japanese.

N

Ginoza shook his head.

"It's Kogami. Of _course_ the password is panopticon." He typed it in and unplugged the headphones so that all four of them could hear.

"Hey Gino," came Kogami's voice, "there's a lot I can't explain right now, but I wanted to get some information to you so that you can help me keep Akane and our friends safe while this is going on. Please don't share this information with her, and pay attention. This cassette is programmed to self-corrupt once you've listened to it."

"Typical," Ginoza smirked.

"After I left Tokyo I was able to flee the country on a trade ship headed for Australia, because apparently that's still a functioning country. As a matter of fact, a lot of countries came out of the War a lot better than most Japanese civilians are aware. I was connected with one of Australia's high-ranking military officers, a woman named General Mattison Winston. Winston's task force had been trying for the last two decades, to no avail, to re-open ties with Japan for political alliance, but any time they would send correspondence, apparently SYBIL would snub them, that was, up until Australia's Prime Minister had expressed interest in Japan's form of government. That's when trading ties had secretly been reinstated without any sort of news regarding the alliance to the general public of either country. When SYBIL System servers started to go online in Australia, there was a dissent in their military regarding the morality of it. It's something to do with the way the main server works. No one actually knows because a Japanese tech assistant they brought in to work on Australia's system to get it online snuck in and burned the place down, as well as assassinated their old Prime Minister. My guess is that the guy realized the inherent issues with SYBIL once he got there to hook it up and decided to shut it down."

"Inherent issues?" Yayoi questioned aloud. "What's he talking about?"

"Kogami doesn't think that SYBIL fairly evaluates citizens, or at least that it doesn't act fairly based on its evaluations," Ginoza clarified. Yayoi nodded, glancing at the tracker around her own wrist.

"Since then, General Winston and her American allies have been gathering intel from traders traveling to and from Japan. And yes, I mean like United States of America. They agree with me that Japan has become a sort of prison to its citizens. One where Japanese people live under the guise of constant surveillance to be punished for crimes they've not yet committed."

"Panopticon…" Sho nodded.

"I was able to smuggle Makishima's helmet out of the country," Kogami continues. Yayoi and Ginoza shared a look of horror. "We were able to hone in on the specific technology and change it to scatter beams from scanners rather than reflect coefficients from other people. We tested it first at the university against street scanners. Considering the fact that I wasn't recognized, we assumed success, but we wanted to make sure that the device was strong enough to scatter more direct, concentrated beams from the SYBIL system…"

"HE TESTED IT ON A LIVE DOMINATOR?!" Ginoza shouted. Tsubame nearly tossed the bowl of rice in her hands.

"Yes, yes, Gino, that means I'm going to test it on a live Dominator. Shimotsuki's if I can swing it… I guess if you're listening to this that means it didn't blow up with my body, so it must have worked."

"That idiot," Ginoza grumbled. Tsubame placed a hand on his shoulder.

"From here my own movements will be more covert. What I need from you is information. We need to know what SYBIL is and where the server is located. That being said, that is getting way ahead of ourselves. If we can disarm the system by turning its guard dogs and shepherds against it, everyone involved will have a much higher chance of survival. Theoretically, SYBIL is some sort of AI. I don't completely buy that, but that's all I have to work on since no one alive has ever actually seen it. I'll be checking in periodically. Since I now know that I can avoid psymatic scans, I will easily be able to contact you. Stand by, Ginoza, and please, be careful."

The device's screen glitched and a small electrical current jumped from it to Ginoza's bionic arm, causing him to jump and hold his shoulder.

"Damn it," he grumbled.

"So, now what?" Yayoi asked, picking up the letters.

"Burn those," Ginoza instructed. "And I guess we keep our ears to the ground until we hear from Kogami again."

The three of them nodded and Hinakawa and Kunizuka retreated for the night, Yayoi's eyes meeting Ginoza's briefly with a pointed glance in Maekawa's direction. He rolled his eye and shooed her away, knowing he'd have to tell her eventually.

"Not hungry, huh?" he chuckled, glancing at the half-eaten bowl of rice in Tsubame's hands. She returned it to him hurriedly, not wanting to eat it all before he got the chance to have some.

"Do you think we'll actually be able to pull this off?" she asked, yawning.

"I think we will or we'll die," he sighed, his own appetite gone. "But that's sort of how it is already, so I guess it's not worse than before." He smiled reassuringly at her. "Kogami's one Hell of a detective. He always has been. Hopefully he'll figure it out before anybody gets hurt." It was more to calm his own nerves at this point, but Tsubame seemed to relax a bit as well.

"Here's to hoping," she whispered. She brushed his hair from his face before laying back in the bed, situating the pillow between them again. "Goodnight Gino."

"Goodnight, Mae."


	13. Down Time

With the success of Kogami's new technology came an eery, but welcome calm in Tokyo. The PSB was made scarce for a moment in the public eye and Division One found some time to spend together off the clock, typically sans Mika Shimotsuki, since she generally frowned upon fraternizing with the dogs. One such night found the four Enforcers plus their Inspector lazing in the living room of the Division One suite. Tsubame felt herself relaxing despite the unfamiliar atmosphere of the room. Her friends - _I can't believe I have friends_ \- laughed and interacted easily around her, filling the room with a warmth she wasn't quite sure was environmental as she caught the eye of a certain bionic-armed man from across the room over his glass of what could only be straight whiskey. _At least he's consistent_, she giggled to herself, unable to stifle the heat that flushed across her cheeks. Akane and Ginoza had been chatting quietly in the opposite corner of the room while Sho and Yayoi played some sort of video game on the giant holoscreen against the bay window.

Behind the fierce battle of virtual racecars, the city twinkled below, something Tsubame had come to really like about living in Nona Tower. She was pulled out of her reverie by the dip of the cushion next to her. Ginoza flopped down and tilted his head, following her gaze out the window.

"You're quiet tonight," he observed. She glanced at him, noting the faint stripe across his cheekbones. Shoving him lightly, she had to laugh when he almost spilled his drink, caught entirely off guard.

"You're drunk," she giggled.

"First time in a while," he admitted. "My tolerance is down since I'm not drinking as much, thanks to you." He winked and her heart raced in the way she never thought she'd be able to experience; that way it does when it launches itself up in order to compel one's lips to help it siphon out of one's body and into another. The realization of this sobered her, and she purposefully sat back to gather herself, covering the sudden fear with another playful shove and a mumbled, "big flirt," which seemed to keep him from noticing. They were interrupted by the call of her name from the next couch.

"Maekawa, it's your turn!" Yayoi smiled, the game controller offered between them. She stood to trade places with Tsubame, having lost miserably to Hinakawa, who had an affinity for all video games. Though he was infinitely different from Kagari, sometimes Ginoza let himself be reminded of the spunkier redhead when he watched Hinakawa stick his tongue out at a handheld device, completely engrossed in the game at his fingertips. Yayoi and Tsubame switched places, and the race began anew.

"She's pretty into you," Yayoi teased him quietly, elbow finding purchase lightly on his ribcage.

"It scares her," he replied, sadness lacing his words.

"Not nearly as much as it used to," Yayoi pointed out.

Ginoza sighed, and looked over to where the doe-eyed girl was happily losing to Hinakawa, seemingly content just to be included. "I don't want to mess this up."

"Then don't." She quirked an eyebrow at him, clearly unsure why this concept was so difficult for him to grasp.

He rolled his eyes at her and sipped his whiskey. "How are things between you and Karanomori?"

Now it was Yayoi's turn to sigh. "Better, I suppose. It's not commitment she's afraid of at least."

"Told you." Ginoza snarked. He was met with smirk. Yayoi's voice dropped.

"Her Crime Coefficient is too high for a marriage license right now. We're trying to get it down so that she can go to one of the MWPSB therapists for treatment. It's improving, but progress is slow."

"I didn't realize," Ginoza apologized. He took another swallow of amber liquid, mulling it over. "Shion's the best damn analyst this place has ever had. Until she came along, accessing half of the data we use now was near impossible. I can imagine the stress of watching people she cares about die in the field while she sits in the lab is overwhelming."

Yayoi nodded. "We're exploring that. She's never admitted to it, but I think that's the biggest contributor, especially after the incident with Kamui and Togane. She's not ever fully recovered from that. It must be a perfectly helpless feeling, sitting in her position."

Ginoza nodded, downing the remainder of his drink.

"She's a strong person. And she has you for support. She has all of us really," he gestured subtly to the room. "She'll figure it out."

Akane stood and stretched, checking the time on her wristband.

"I ought to get home. Work tomorrow. I'll see you all in the morning," she smiled. "Don't stay up too late!"

Hinakawa paused the game to wave at the Inspector. Yayoi smiled and raised an open hand in acknowledgement of her departure. Tsubame stood and, after taking a deep breath to steel herself, hugged the Inspector.

"Have a safe ride home, Inspector Tsunemori," Maekawa squeaked before letting her go, not giving Akane time to hug her back. Ginoza and Akane shared an incredulous look before beaming at Tsubame's progress.

"I'll walk you out," Gino offered, standing and placing his glass on the coffee table. Akane nodded and waited for him at the door. They made their way to the elevator at the end of the hall.

"Expecting company, Inspector?" Ginoza asked, emerald eyes piercing through the previous haze of his slight intoxication.

"Haven't had any in weeks," she mumbled, dejected. Ginoza sighed. "Judgemental, much?" Akane rolled her eyes.

"I'm sorry, I just don't want you to get hurt." Ginoza peeked over at Akane, who'd initiated a staring contest with the floor.

"I know." Akane smiled to herself. "I also know he's probably asked you to look out for me, as if you weren't doing that already," she scoffed. Their eyes met. "I'm fine, Gino. Honestly, I get more stressed out watching you and the rest of the Enforcers struggling with your demons than I get dealing with my own. Being able to see the four of you smiling and enjoying yourselves makes me the happiest I've been in a while." The elevator indicated that they'd reached the lobby. Akane stepped out and blocked Ginoza's path to go with her. "There's a girl upstairs who makes you happy and who needs you just as much as you need her. Go _home_ Ginoza. Kami knows you haven't been there in decades."

A confused expression settled into his features as the elevator closed.

He returned to find that Sho and Tsubame had finished their game and the two of them sat quietly enjoying the other's company scrolling through pages on the internet on their holoscreens. When Sho noticed Ginoza walk through the door, he smiled and dismissed himself, retreating to his room. Yayoi was nowhere to be seen.

"You alright?" Tsubame asked, noticing the scowl on his face.

"Just something Inspector Tsunemori said. It's nothing. Are you ready to turn in?" Ginoza nodded in the direction of the hallway to their bedroom. _Huh, I guess it is our room rather than mine anymore_. Tsubame smiled and nodded. Gino lead the way down the hall, Akane's words ringing in his mind. _Go home? I'm already home. I live here. _The door slid open and he smiled to himself. They'd pulled out a box of Masaoka's belongings and finally sorted through some of them, something Gino had been avoiding for years. They'd found a photograph of Dime from when he was a puppy that was now framed and hanging on the wall. She'd comforted him when he mentioned Dime's passing. As she pushed past him into the room and made her way to the bed, he adored the way she tucked her hair behind her ear to keep it out of her way when she bent to pick up a stack of books that he'd stashed away from Kogami's room before it was emptied out and stored as evidence.

He removed his shoes and selected more comfortable clothing from his costuming device. Maekawa chose her usual oversized t-shirt and pajama pants and pulled herself up onto the bed, crossing her legs to sit turned towards him, smiling.

"I've been wondering all day," she began, "why'd you name your dog Dime?"

Ginoza laughed and took a detour across the room to grab a box from the top shelf of a bookcase.

"I collect coins," he explained, coming to sit next to her. It did not escape him that she didn't seem bothered by his proximity to her on her own side of the bed. He placed the box in front of her and removed the lid, revealing a mound of unsorted coins from different countries. "These are some I've not archived just yet. I have been putting it off, actually. When I moved from my old apartment to Isolation, I had to downsize my collection a bit, so I was sad, in a way, whenever I'd see how few I was able to keep."

"These are incredible, Gino!" She thumbed the surface of one of them reverently, holding it close to read the letters embossed across its face. His heart lurched at the genuine interest on her face. Most people thought his hobby was boring. It was nice that someone could appreciate it as much as he did. He hadn't had anyone to help him sort his coins since before his mother passed away.

"Have you ever collected anything?" Ginoza asked, noting how careful she was to place each coin back in the box rather than just drop them into it.

"Sort of," she nodded. "I was really into ornithology when I was younger. That's why I'd liked biology class so much in high school…" She took a moment to shake a memory from her mind before continuing. "Birds are just so interesting, and have always fascinated mankind. They're symbols of freedom and peace and omens of death and famine… I had ebooks and stuffed animals… My father actually built us a small canary hutch in our livingroom. I'd trained them to respond to commands through their ankle bands. It's way easier to do now than it was when humans started training birds to carry messages and do tricks since we can better indicate locations through the vibrations in the ankle bands, but I just loved that I'd been able to teach them. And they were always so proud when they got it right! They'd puff their little feathers out and strut around with their prize… normally shredded paper to nest with…" She got a far off look in her eyes before returning to herself. "Oh! Sorry, I was rambling."

"No, I was enjoying it, don't apologize," he smiled. "You can talk about birds all you want. I don't actually know much about them."

"R-really?" Her eyes widened.

"Really," he nodded. "Come here." He scooted so that his back was against the headboard and indicated for her to sit next to him. She hesitated, an idea crossing her mind.

"Hold still for a second," she instructed. He sat motionless as she tossed a pillow onto him and crawled into his lap to turn around and rest her back against his chest. "I-is that okay?"

"Definitely," he said breathlessly. As he overcame the initial shock of her sitting so close to him, he found himself completely entranced by the sleek brown strands of hair that tickled his face. It reminded him of how he would sit behind his mother and braid her hair for her before she would take him to school in the mornings.

_Go home Ginoza._

"Mae, would you mind if I braided your hair?"

"You know how?" she asked, surprised.

"My mother taught me. She had long dark hair like yours." He could feel his anxiety building as she considered his request. He hoped he hadn't scared her away.

"I wouldn't mind," Tsubame said finally. "That might be kind of nice, actually."

Gino released the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding and carefully carded his human fingers through her hair.

"I've not tried this with the robotic hand," he admitted, worried.

"I'm not particularly tender-headed," she assured him. "Here." She flopped away from him over his leg and reached out of sight over the edge of the bed to where she'd set a bag of things he'd not asked her about since she began sleeping in his room. When she returned, she produced a hairbrush and handed it to him.

"So what is your favorite kind of bird?" he reminded her as he began the process of untangling her hair.

"Right!" she remembered excitedly, pulling up her holoscreen to search for images as she chatted. She loved parrots the most, particularly lovebirds. They were small and energetic and even the females were colorful. Holographic birds hopped around on her screen in front of them as Ginoza set the brush down to carefully divide three sections of hair at her crown, opting for a French braid since she had so much hair, in order to make it less heavy at the end.

Tsubame shivered a bit as Ginoza lifted the hair on top of her head, his light and attentive touches causing her muscles to relax but her heart to race. When she ran out of facts about lovebirds, he asked her another question.

"What are some ways to categorize birds?"

She told him about flightless and flighted birds, birds of prey, poultry, and gamebirds, the information flooding back into her mind. When he started asking about common myths about certain types of birds, she couldn't help but giggle at his ignorance.

"Wait, so ostriches _don't_ bury their heads in sand?"

"How would they breathe?" she chuckled.

"Fair point. But owls can definitely turn their heads all the way around, right?"

"Almost. They'd break their necks and collapse their tracheas if they went in a complete circle. They aren't robots with a swivel joint neck." She quickly pulled up a photograph of a spectacled owl.

"This is my favorite owl. I just think their faces look really expressive. Owls are symbols of wisdom, but they actually have really tiny brains. Most of their skull is occupied by their eyes." She clicked on a picture of an owl skull.

"That's reasonable considering how large its eyes are," he nodded, finishing the braid in her hair. "Do you have a hair tie?"

She offered him her wrist and he slipped the black elastic over her hand. The braid reached all the way to the small of her back.

"Thank you, Gino," she smiled over her shoulder.

He rooted himself in place, the overwhelming desire to kiss her flooding his senses.

"Nobuchika," he corrected. "You can call me Nobuchika if you want, when we're alone like this…" He blushed. "I… erm… What I mean is…"

Her eyes glittered under the significance of this. None of the other Enforcers used Ginoza's first name. The only time she'd heard someone other than him say it at all was when Shion was being antagonistic toward him in defense of her own partner. She was able to find her voice as he floundered awkwardly under her gaze.

"Breathe," she giggled. "I think I know what you mean." She shifted so that she sat sideways between his legs, her braid brushing across his forearm, making him shiver. She turned and brought her hand to his face. It was trembling, but she appeared to have made up her mind. Despite the angle, Tsubame was able to crane her neck up to face him. Closing her eyes, determination set into her features, she trailed her hand from his cheek to the back of his head and gently pulled him toward her, their lips meeting softly.

The knot of tension in his chest caging his heart and restricting his lungs was suddenly pulled loose. The feeling of her lips pressed gently into his turned his muscles to puddy; even his eyelids refused to open against the immense desire to remain relaxed. When she pulled away his system rebooted and he peeked down at her, a smile playing across his face. Her hand retreated to rest a bit more politely on his chest. She was surprised to feel his heartbeat pounding along at a pace that rivaled hers.

"Sorry," she started. He shook his head.

"There's nothing to be sorry for. I had hoped you would want to try that at some point." He grinned sheepishly.

"Was it okay?" she asked, face reddening.

"Better than," he assured her, lifting his hand to her face. "If you ever want to do it again, you are more than welcome."

This made her relax and she leaned her head into his hand.

"I think it's time for bed," she yawned, pulling herself out of his lap. He would be lying if he said he wasn't just the slightest bit disappointed that she didn't seem as intrigued by exploring this new aspect of their relationship as he was, but he was sure there would be time yet to do that. He scooted so that there was room for her pillow barrier to be set between them. Once it was in place she leaned over it and pecked him on the cheek. "I don't know what I did to deserve someone who understands me the way you do, but I hope it didn't involve signing my soul over to some demon promising wishes while I was in the throes of a panic attack in an isolation ward."

"I promise I am not and know nothing about any soul-hustling demons granting wishes, but I'm glad your wish was me." He winked up at her, earning a pillow to the face. A muffled, "goodnight," made her laugh, shaking the bed.

"Goodnight, Nobuchika."


	14. A Little Romance

_**A/N: Here's one for all my sour-loving readers. (HINT: GIANT LEMON ENSUES) But it does further the plot at the end. I just can't help myself, these characters are so adorable. ~R3d**_

* * *

A week later, Akane surprised them with a vacation day and a trip to walk around and do whatever they wanted around town. She'd somehow convinced Shimotsuki to go along with this, since she couldn't chaperone more than three Enforcers on her own. Ginoza suspected it had some to do with the chance to visit one of Shimotsuki's favorite tea houses on the way. He buttoned his black peacoat and fixed his sleeves, taking care to cover the wristband that might make any civilians he encountered uncomfortable with his presence.

"What do you think?" Maekawa asked from behind him. She spun in a circle when he turned to look. She wore a dandelion colored knit cap with a white crocheted flower, her hair braided back per Ginoza and slung over her shoulder. Her olive green dress hung below her knees. In the space between the hem and her gray woolen leg warmers he could see black leggings over her shins. She clicked her black boots together and shoved her hands into the pockets of her yellow cardigan.

"I think yellow is definitely your color," he complimented coming to stand next to her. She reached up to him, standing on her toes, and kissed his cheek.

"And red is yours," she winked as he blushed.

"Stop being cute and get out here," Yayoi called from the open door. She and Sho were hip to the more intimate turn in their relationship without it being explicitly stated by either of them. Honestly they were thrilled for Gino. Even in the time before the Specimen case lead to Kogami's demotion, Yayoi hadn't ever known the man to genuinely smile. Now he seemed to be having the opposite problem.

"Alright, alright," Gino complied, throwing his hands in surrender. He offered one to Tsubame and she took it happily to follow him to the main room. Akane and Mika were there already and Sho was throwing a few things into his backpack to head out.

"Okay, ground rules: stay in sight at all times. I am not afraid to report you MIA. Don't talk to anyone unless you're buying something. I don't want you clouding the hues of unsuspecting citizens. And for the love of Kami keep your hands to yourselves. We work together, for crying out loud." Shimotsuki glared at the couple currently holding hands.

"That'll be a hard one for me," came a voice from the door behind the Inspectors. Shion entered the suite with a grin. Gino wasn't sure if Yayoi's expression was one of surprise or horror.

"Shion, what are you doing down here?" She shoved past a clearly fuming Shimotsuki to get to her lover.

"Akane said we were going out. I thought a trip outside could do me some good. I'm pretty sure it's been years since I've walked on grass. Besides, I took the day off already." She winked at Yayoi who was unconvinced, but the fact that Shion hadn't set off the door scanner on her way in indicated that she was at least below 300.

"If you're sure," Yayoi smiled weakly.

"Whatever, can we get out of here?" Shimotsuki huffed. Ginoza chuckled quietly at her blatant jealousy.

"That sounds like a great idea. Inspector, will you take Ginoza and Maekawa? My car will fit the other three a little more comfortably," Akane suggested.

"Why don't I take Kunizuka and Ginoza? They're the tallest so they'll have more leg room if they're in my car."

It was the weakest excuse Ginoza had ever heard to get Yayoi away from Shion and to simultaneously keep him away from Tsubame. The hand in his tightened angrily, but before anyone else could respond, Shion cut the red wire.

"That's fine," she shrugged, blonde hair bouncing. "Once we park we'll all be on foot anyway." Bomb defused. If Shion wasn't going to fight it with him, Ginoza would rather just get it over with. And at least then he wouldn't have to worry about Mika clouding Tsubame's hue with her tormenting. He brought the back of Tsubame's hand to his lips before letting her go to move towards Shimotsuki.

"Trackers," the Inspector insisted. Both Yayoi and Gino rolled their eyes and pulled up their sleeves. That's when Ginoza noticed the Dominator on her hip.

"You're joking, right?" he scoffed, pointing.

"Ginoza," Akane warned.

"Do you want to go for a walk or not?" Shimotsuki growled. He narrowed his eyes at her but pressed his lips closed into a hard line. "Good dog."

"Inspector…" Akane sighed.

"Just remember this was your bright idea," Shimotsuki reminded her. She then turned to lead the way to the parking garage.

* * *

Ginoza couldn't honestly remember the last time he'd taken the time off work to just walk around and enjoy Tokyo. They drove a ways out of the center of town in order to get away from the stress of the city, finding themselves in a quieter suburban area. They had tea together at Shimotsuki's favorite tea house just as Ginoza had suspected. Fortunately, the Inspector had excellent taste in tea, so it wasn't a complete waste. Ginoza happened to be familiar with the area they were in, and afterward managed to convince the Inspectors to allow him to lead them to his favorite place to get udon when he and his mother lived north of the city. Akane was somehow unable to put herself between Inspector Shimotsuki and Ginoza at the table. She cast a meaningful look at him over Shimotsuki's shoulder as she decided to take the seat across from her at the round table instead.

"So how do you know this place, Mr. Ginoza?" Akane asked as she peered over the menu.

"My mother used to take me here for lunch. Sometimes it would be during my father's lunch breaks and he'd meet us," Gino remembered suddenly. He shifted in his chair but allowed no other indication that he was uncomfortable to pass his countenance. Tsubame slipped her hand into his discreetly under the table.

"Before his demotion, then," Shimotsuki observed, absently, as if she thought pointing that out was necessary, but equally unimportant.

"Obviously," Ginoza growled. He bit his tongue.

"So what do you recommend?" Shion asked, in a voice louder than necessary. Ginoza rambled off menu items without even looking at it.

"The udon is the best, but their miso is to die for. You can't really go wrong," he assured them, a warm smile gracing his features. Tsubame and Akane beamed back at him. He could feel the surprised stares from Shion and Shimotsuki, who until now had probably never seen Ginoza smile before. The Inspector wasn't the most perceptive when it came to the Enforcers, so she probably hadn't noticed the subtle changes in Ginoza's demeanor until now. Karanamori just hadn't been around enough to have noticed. For the first time in a very long time, he felt happy enough to have returned to this restaurant at all. Before it would've just been too painful, but now with his friends and Tsubame there to reassure him, it seemed silly for him to have harbored bad feelings for the place.

It had been so long since many of them had been out to a restaurant at all that Akane decided to treat them all to dessert as well. The mochi ice cream they were served was the best Tsubame thought she'd ever had. They left in high spirits despite Shimotsuki's insensitivity. The Inspectors took up a watchful post behind the group of them and Sho placed himself conveniently in the way of the view of Tsubame and Ginoza's entwined fingers as they traveled down the sidewalk. Shimotsuki had already given up on the PDA rule for Yayoi and Shion at the restaurant.

They neared a large park and couldn't resist stopping for a bit. Akane and Mika found a bench that overlooked the playground, the small fish pond, and the gazebo in the distance. Hand in hand, Yayoi and Shion walked leisurely toward the gazebo. Hinakawa, Maekawa, and Ginoza meandered over to the deserted swing set, the two younger Enforcers taking seats while Ginoza leaned against a support pole.

"So, who plugged the virus into Shimotsuki's OS? Surely she hasn't always been this way." Tsubame glanced weakly at the Inspectors seated on the park bench.

"A while ago, Shimotsuki's friends were killed by a psychopath by the name of Rikaku Orio, the daughter of a painter whose works were too violent and explicit to be displayed in the public. She was only a high schooler when her friends were killed, plastinated, and turned into a sculpture. I don't think she ever saw what was left of them, but she knows it wasn't good. I suppose she has the clearance now that she could've looked it up. For her sake, I hope she didn't…" Ginoza closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the pole behind him.

"Just like the Specimen case?" came Hinakawa's meek voice. Ginoza peeked an eye open in a deadly glare. "Sorry, I, uh, do some light reading when I have spare time… I dug into the file of a certain vigilante and came across the case file."

"It's alright, you were bound to find out anyway. For the sake of your psycho pass I wouldn't recommend going through it more than once." Ginoza sighed and turned to them. "Ever since her friends' deaths, Shimotsuki has been particularly wary of latent criminals. I can't say I blame her, though I question her lack of basic humanity towards us. Then again, I'm sure I was the same way. She has a soft spot for Yayoi though. Kunizuka comforted her at the scene of her friends' murders. I don't think she ever forgot that, as confusing as it must be to her now… A latent criminal who cares about her psycho pass? She's never really understood that we're here to help her do this job. She can't get past the bitterness. Sometimes I wish she'd listen to me. I've been in her shoes. I was a fool. I thought I was better than my father… Better than Kogami. I know now that I am no different. And neither is she. Truthfully neither is Inspector Tsunemori. She just deals with it differently."

The pair listened to the black-haired Enforcer earnestly. Even through the disdain they felt for Inspector Shimotsuki, both of them wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt. Ginoza's perspective was something neither of them would ever have. He had been an Inspector. He remembered what it was like to not be a latent criminal.

"I try to be patient with her. I understand where she's coming from, for the most part. But there's no way I'll ever convince her of what I know to be true. It sounds crazy to someone in her position. At least, it sounded crazy to me coming from Akane all those years ago…" He shook his head.

"Hindsight it twenty-twenty, Gino," Hinakawa smirked. "If I could go back in time and tell myself to stop taking pills, I would. Back then it was the only thing that seemed to work. I ruined my own life. Child-prodigy holo programmer and I couldn't handle the stress." Hinakawa shrugged and kicked his feet, propelling the swing forward. "Now they won't prescribe me anything, hence the constant reading. I don't sleep well."

"That makes three of us," Tsubame added with a small chuckle.

"Four if you count Tsunemori. She messages me at two in the morning sometimes." Gino resumed his relaxed position against the swingset.

"I doubt anyone in Division One sleeps well," Hinakawa observed. "We're either on duty or on call most nights of the week." Both men were startled when Tsubame suddenly gasped next to them.

"Gino! Hinakawa! Look!" Tsubame pointed excitedly at the gazebo across the park where Karanamori had knelt down in front of Yayoi, whose blush was visible from this distance, a small red box proffered between them.

"Can she do that?" Hinakawa asked, honestly concerned.

"I don't think it matters," Ginoza smiled. He glanced at Tsubame whose eyes twinkled with the absolute delight of a girl who'd probably planned her own wedding at six years old. It occurred to him, not for the first time, that some more chivalry on his end might result in a little more confidence on hers.

They watched excitedly as Yayoi dropped to her knees and buried her face in Shion's jacket, likely displaying some emotion that no one else had ever seen her express. With shaking hands, they situated the ring on Yayoi's finger, kissed, and stood to find their friends shouting from the swingset in support. Shion escorted her fiancé back to where their friends gathered on the sidewalk, Akane standing to join them.

"Congratulations!" Akane chirped as they approached.

"Couldn't have swung it without you, Inspector," Shion winked at Akane. "Somehow asking that important of a question in the Analysis Lab just didn't seem very romantic."

"That's so sweet," Tsubame swooned. Yayoi offered her hand to the group so they could see the ring that was so perfectly Yayoi it almost made Ginoza laugh: nothing flashy, completely practical, and no places for things to get hooked on it.

"We'll have to plan another vacation day like this for the wedding," Hinakawa mentioned, pulling up the calendar on his holoscreen.

"Assuming there is one." Everyone turned to look incredulously at the sulking Inspector still seated on the bench. "What?" Shimotsuki demanded. "I've never heard of a marriage license being granted to a pair of latent criminals. Even couples with only one latent criminal have a hard time, especially since the margin between therapy and isolation is so small."

"Seriously? What do you even care?" Shion snapped. She'd been pleasant to the Inspector all day and her patience had finally worn out. Yayoi put up a hand to calm her down.

"You're both still technically Institutionalized. I'm just saying…"

"Well don't," Ginoza barked. "You really think we need to hear it? Today has been mostly pleasant. We're out doing something that feels normal for once. Our co-workers are engaged. Can't you just congratulate them and get over yourself for four hours?"

"Ginoza, that's enough," Akane warned him.

"No, Inspector, she needs to hear it. Shimotsuki, listen to me. I was just like you. I treated my Enforcers like animals. I showed them little reprieve for the slightest mistakes, I hounded them about their whereabouts and intentions on missions… I treated my _best friend_ and my _father_ like _dogs_ Mika! And look where it got me!" He revealed the tracker at his wrist. "I was no better than Kunizuka, or Kagari, or Sasayama, or Kogami, or Masaoka… No, I'm especially no better than Masaoka… You are no better than any of us. We've all got hues, and they can all get clouded. The more you pretend that we aren't also human, and you distance yourself from the reality that you can fall, the faster your Crime Coefficient will climb."

When everyone remained silent, he took a deep breath and continued.

"Masaoka… My father once gave me some advice. I'd asked him about Inspector Tsunemori and how he figured she kept her hue so clear. He had speculated that perhaps her disconcern with getting cloudy was what saved her. She didn't worry about her own hue, and she didn't get fixated on anyone else's. It was her trust in a latent criminal that solved so many cases her first year as an Inspector, and it was my distrust in latent criminals that lead to my downward spiral my last year as an Inspector. Don't walk this path, Mika Shimotsuki. You won't like where it leads you. SYBIL doesn't have favorites. It has citizens and it has criminals, and as an Inspector you walk the tightrope between them."

Mika scoffed.

"In your position, I'd be careful what I said about the SYBIL System. How could a latent criminal possibly understand how it works and still end up a latent criminal?" she spat.

"I'm not saying I know how it works. I am saying that it doesn't discriminate. You are no different than I was. I don't want you to end up like me."

The Inspector mulled this over for a moment. The rest of the group held their breath. Feeling Ginoza's temper flaring next to her, Tsubame reached out her hand and took his human one, stroking his knuckles to keep him calm.

"I don't need your pity, Enforcer," Shimotsuki finally decided. "And I don't want your help. You failed the SYBIL System, it's my job to use you until it decides your usefulness is expired. That's how it works. Don't worry about me because I don't worry about you." The Inspector stood and stalked off. "If you don't want Tsunemori to get written up, I suggest at least two of you come with me," she called over her shoulder angrily. Hinakawa volunteered himself, and after a brief and silent exchange, Tsubame took off after them, deciding it would probably be best for Ginoza to stay away from Shimotsuki for a while. A fifteen minute car ride with the woman wouldn't kill her, hopefully.

"I don't know what else to tell her," Ginoza huffed, irritably.

"Well challenging her whole belief system all at once might not be the best method," Yayoi suggested. "She operates on the same assumptions everyone does. Hell, even we operate on those assumptions. It's how our society works. It's easier for normal people to demonize us. It puts up a barrier to protect them. I know she's mean, but maybe we should just let her be. It hasn't hurt her yet."

"Yet," Ginoza emphasized.

"Enough," Akane sighed. "Let's get you guys home. Congratulations again, you two."

Shion and Yayoi nodded and began the walk back to Akane's parked car. Gino, slow to respond to the order, hung back.

"Ginoza don't make me paralyze you," Akane grumbled, only half joking.

"It's just so disappointing to watch someone make your mistakes and have them refuse your help. If there was one thing I wish I could go back and do it would be to take my father's advice more seriously. Even if I'd still ended up a latent criminal when he died, at least I would've been prepared for it." He shoved his hands in his pockets.

"I know, Gino. She'll see, eventually. But there's nothing more you can do. C'mon. Let's go home." She smiled and nodded her head in the direction of the parking garage and he followed reluctantly.

* * *

Akane was surprised to find a stray rose petal on the floor outside her apartment door, but didn't really think much more of it. When she opened the door to Candy squealing about a delivery, she quickly silenced her and flipped the lights on. A trail of long-stemmed red roses led into her bedroom, and her heart stopped.

"Kogami?" she called hopefully, dropping her bag. Stopping in the doorway she found him placing the remainder of a massive bouquet on the top of her bedside table.

"I thought I'd have a little more time," he smiled at her. "I haven't even made dinner yet."

"What's the occasion?" She unbuttoned her blazer and it fell to the chair next to her.

"I'm sorry I've been away so long. We were making some preparations for which my presence was necessary…"

She scoffed, interrupting him.

"Obviously."

He smiled taking a step toward her.

"Sorry about that," he mumbled, reaching out to place his hand tentatively on her hip. She didn't protest as he pulled her closer.

"You're forgiven, but only because you aren't dead. Don't do something like that again," she warned, hugging him.

"No promises," he chuckled. "Anyway, I brought some groceries over. How does katsudon sound?"

"Delicious!" she smiled up at him. He caught her lips in his and kissed her gently.

"Definitely," he agreed, brushing the hair from her face. Her stomach growled between them, making them both laugh.

"Sorry. We did a lot of walking today," she blushed.

"Chasing a beat?"

"No, actually I took the team out to lunch and then we walked to a park… Oh! Karanamori proposed to Ms. Kunizuka!" She wiggled out of his arms to grab her costuming device, changing into more comfortable clothes.

"That's exciting…" Kogami seemed distracted as he watched her make her way back over to the door.

"What?" she asked, turning to face him.

"I've never seen you in leggings before."

Her face reddened, but she laughed.

"Shinya, you've seen me naked," she reminded.

"Still different," he insisted, shaking his head. "Anyway, food."

They made dinner together, laughing and discussing the day's events. Kogami was happy for Yayoi and Shion, but seemed unconvinced that they would be able to get married. Akane told him about the restaurant that Ginoza took them to and Kogami nodded, closing his eyes.

"We passed it on a case one of the first weeks he was an Inspector. Masaoka, Sasayama and I were looking for a place to stop for food and the old man said it was his favorite. Gino convinced me we didn't have time to stop and sit down. When I asked him later why he'd seemed so cold about it, that was when he told me that the father who'd become a latent criminal who'd abandoned him and his mother when he was a child was Masaoka, our Enforcer. I'll never forget the way he looked after that. He could hardly spit it out. It's great that he was alright to take you all there. I'm glad through all of this he's able to face some of his demons. They tortured him for a long time. I hope he was able to reconcile his feelings about his old man."

Kogami sighed and flipped the pork cutlets he was cooking in the pan.

"That smells wonderful," Akane mumbled, placing the cutting board she'd used to cut the green onions and Nori onto the counter. Kogami set the tonkatsu onto a plate for Akane to slice and began preparing the donburi in the same pan.

"My mother's recipe. I prefer simpler dishes, myself, but this isn't just for me… I don't think I've ever cooked for two people in my adult life," he realized aloud.

"You've always been a loner, it seems," Akane prodded, jabbing him in the ribs with her elbow.

"I think I'm growing out of it," he smiled, grabbing the plated pork and placing it back into the pan.

"I would hope so," Akane grumbled. She tossed the knife into the sink and grabbed bowls for their dinner. When she turned around she landed face first into Kogami's chest.

"If this starts to cloud your hue, I'll have to leave. You know that, right?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Akane rebutted. "I'm worse off worrying about you when you don't check in than having you here. You're clearly able to come and go without being detected. So long as no one finds out you're staying here, there's no way the alternative is better."

"Alright, alright. Let's eat."

Akane couldn't help but smile to herself throughout dinner. Of all the things she'd done with him, excluding their previous private rendezvous, this was probably the most human he'd ever seemed to her. Before he'd deserted, and even a little when he'd shared her bed, he seemed unattainable, like a ghost walking the earth with a singular purpose, never looking up or turning back. It tickled her to death that the man she thought didn't have time for anything but his mission had snuck into her apartment with roses to surprise her with a dinner date.

As Kogami finished his bowl, he peeked up at her.

"What's so funny?"

"I just can hardly believe you're here, sometimes," she admitted.

"If I get my way you won't ever feel that way again," he replied, determination lacing his words.

"So what exactly are you trying to do anyway?"

"Akane," he sighed, "I don't want you to get hurt, so I think the less you know the better."

_If only he knew how much I know,_ she thought, her mind taking her back to that room full of floating brains. They'd more than proven themselves corruptible. She'd had fewer problems with them since they'd passed judgement on their own collective, but that didn't keep the worry that they could be corrupted again from creeping into the back of her mind from time to time. She'd found that those were her "cloudiest" days as her hue dipped to a hardly distinguishable baby blue.

"Anyway," Kogami interrupted her thoughts as he stood, "I think we've got more important things to do tonight."

She raised a brow at him as he cleared the dishes and returned to the table to pull out her chair for her. Once she stood he took her hands in his and brought them to his shoulders, leaving them there as he trailed his own back down her arms and sides to a light grip at her hips. He looked down at her and smiled, bending to press his forehead to hers.

"Sometimes this doesn't feel real," he breathed.

"That's an understatement," she corrected, tipping her chin up to meet his lips. He pulled her closer, if that was possible, disheveling her sweater and revealing skin at the small of her back. Not one to miss out on an opportunity, he slid his hand gently up her back under the light fabric that tickled the backs of his hands. When his hand reached the area between her shoulder blades he was surprised to find no other barriers between them.

Empowered by the hitch in his breath, Akane reached up and tugged the spiky styled hair at the nape of his neck, pulling his head to the side to nip playfully at the skin under his ear. A soft groan escaped the back of his throat and his nails traced electric paths across her skin.

"Sensitive, are we?" she teased, making sure to breathe directly onto the same spot.

"You're feeling bold, I see," he observed, pulling back to look at her.

"Shinya, you haven't been by in weeks," she defended. "And that does not give you permission to be away that long again!"

He chuckled and pulled her close once more, bringing his lips to her ear.

"Is that an order, Inspector?" He brushed his lips teasingly down the side of her neck and back up to her ear, earning a shudder. "I'm known to be quite insubordinate. You may have to spell it out for me. What is it you want?"

"Hmmm…" she pretended to think about it for a moment before looking directly into his eyes. "You."

With that she pushed him backwards towards her bedroom door and into her room. He'd flipped a switch and the anticipation on his face was more than enough encouragement.

"Strip," she demanded, crossing her arms and taking a seat on the edge of her bed. His eyes widened for a moment before he smiled and acquiesced, starting at his tie. "And I'll be needing that when you're done," she added, holding out one hand. He dropped the article into her palm and slowly unbuttoned his shirt, maintaining eye-contact with her as he dropped it to the floor behind him. She stood up and sauntered over to him, running her hands across his chest and shoulders. She couldn't contain the smile as he shivered under her fingertips. When he reached for her, she stepped away just out of range, a playful smile gracing her features.

"Not yet," she teased, sitting back down and crossing her arms once more.

He grinned back, biting the inside of his bottom lip as he watched her. Resuming his task, he undid his belt and the fasteners on his slacks, dropping them to the floor and stepping out of his socks at the same time. When he reached for his underwear, she stopped him.

"Leave those on for a little bit. I like them," she admitted. He smirked and stepped towards her. She caught his extended arms by the wrists and quickly knotted his tie around them. Before he could react, she stood and pulled him around so his back was to her bed and pushed him onto it. If there was any concern that he wasn't as into this as she was, it vanished as she straddled his hips and he pressed himself enthusiastically against her. She kept his hands from finding purchase on the hem of her sweater, and pushed them back over his head, her face mere inches from his. She smiled again and buried her face in his neck, slowly trailing hands and kisses down his body, at times nibbling slightly, others, brushing her tongue softly against his bare skin. She did not miss the death grip he took on her headboard, or the way his back arched off the mattress as her breath ghosted over his nipples. Reaching the waistband of his black boxer-briefs, she found the tip of his hip bone and sucked a small red mark onto it, his voice suddenly filling the room.

"God damnit, Akane," he moaned, clearly straining against the desire to take control.

"Good boy," she praised, giggling. She took another pass across his waistband before pushing herself back up to be even with his face, her body was flush against his. She reached down to the hem of her sweater and slowly pulled away one of the barriers between them, watching him the whole time. Gradually, she felt the heat of his body against her stomach as she inched the sweater up. Suddenly, he swung his arms down around her, pulling her close as he rolled her over so he was the one on top.

"Impatience will get you nowhere, Shinya," she chided, looking down between them. "I still haven't even taken my clothes off."

"You are… really good at this," he gasped. He lifted his arms so that she could roll out from under him, and retook his position on the bed.

"I'll let you do all the work once I'm done with you, don't worry," she promised, winking. With that, she shed her sweater, tossing it unceremoniously to the floor. Having to remind him once more to keep his hands to himself, she straddled him again. This time, she lowered her chest to his stomach and slowly snaked up his body to bring her lips hungrily to his. His body felt like fire against hers.

At some point he'd completely lost control of his hips, she realized, as they ground up into her weight over them. An idea struck her then, and she slipped back down his torso, fingers outlining his muscles, until she reached his hips once more. She re-situated herself between his legs and rubbed her palm over the bulge, the groan she received completely worth it. She laid her forearm across his hips and rubbed him again through the thin fabric, failing to hold him down completely, but still stifling his efforts to increase the friction.

"Akane, please," he begged. She was not expecting that. She glanced back up at the pieces of the man she'd torn apart, his chest flushed and his head thrown back, hands shaking as they gripped whatever purchase they could find. Fairly satisfied with that, she pulled the waistband down just enough to slide her tongue over the tip of him, a shudder wracking his entire body at the contact. For a few moments she drew further pleasure from him, alternating between tentative kisses and completely enveloping him in her mouth. When he'd given up his hold on the bedframe and his hands wound their way into her hair, she pulled away and maneuvered her pants and panties off.

With a mischievous smile, she reached for the tie that bound his wrists together. As she slowly undid the knot, she wondered what she was in for in retaliation. He didn't give her long to think about it. With one deft movement he rolled over her once again, grabbing her wrists in the process and pinning them down above her head. He was panting heavily, but an undeniably wicked smile spread across his face.

"My turn," he growled, causing excitement to spread like electricity through her body. He dipped his head to the side of her neck and sucked. In the back of her mind she admonished herself for not telling him that Ginoza picked up on the last hickey he'd left on her, but the rest of her couldn't care less. He adjusted her wrists so he was holding both with one hand, while the other arm snaked beneath her to encircle her waist. Drawing himself closer to her, he guided her legs in front of his body so that her ankles rested on his shoulders. Returning to himself for a moment, he dipped his free hand between her legs to make sure he wasn't going to hurt her. The gasp that escaped her lips brought a smile to his own, and he slowly inserted one finger into her while his thumb teased her center, causing her back to arch and her head to fall back as she moaned. He released her wrists, his hands coming to support her back, before lining himself up and pushing slowly into her.

Her legs slid off his shoulders to rest in the crooks of his elbows as she pulled his face to hers. He thrust deeper into her and she moaned into his lips, trying to press as close to him as physically possible. The rhythm he took was slower than she wanted at first, but didn't last long as he became lost in her body. The new angle had her calling his name feverishly into his shoulder, her nails digging desperately into his back. Her body started to spasm and she felt him smirk against her neck. Once her moaning gave way to panting, he backed up a little to allow her legs to fall back to the mattress.

"You okay?" he beamed, clearly very proud of the twitching wreck he'd made of her.

"Better than," she nodded, taking a deep breath. "Here." She reached into the drawer of her night stand and pulled out a condom to hand to him.

"It's almost like you planned to lure me back to your bed, you minx," he winked.

"Almost," she laughed. He opened the packet and took his time to give her another moment to catch her breath.

"Flip over," he murmured, running a hand up the inside of her thigh. Once she'd made her way onto her hands and knees in front of him, he pushed gently on her back to get her to lower her chest onto the bed. "Trust me, it's better," he promised as he pushed back into her, running his hands along her body. He was right.

She grit her teeth against the sudden desire to be a lot louder than she had been already. He seemed to notice this and leaned over her as close as he could get, his breath brushing against her shoulder blade.

"I love the noises you make," he whispered. He kissed her back before a particularly hard thrust, and her self-consciousness faded into loud whines. He grabbed her hips as he continued his rhythm, the thrusts increasingly more desperate. She heard his breathing become heavier and more frantic when his hips stuttered against her and he stopped, gasping for air. He flopped himself sideways next to her, and removed the condom. She fell over next to him as his arms enveloped her waist, and he kissed her neck as he curled himself around her.

She pulled a conveniently placed trash can from the space between the bedside table and her box spring for him and then curled up into his body, her limbs heavy. Shinya sighed contentedly into her ear.

"I can stay for a few days this week," he whispered. "We don't have much going on, in case you were wondering how busy you'd be at work."

"You aren't the only criminals we've chased down in the last few weeks," she scoffed sleepily in fake offense. "But I'd really like that. Just don't let the neighbors see you. I'll never hear the end of it."

He chuckled quietly. "That's what you're worried about? What the neighbors will think? And _not_ about the fact that you're harboring a wanted criminal?"

"I can handle SYBIL. They don't scare me." She drifted as he mulled over her words.

"They?" He murmured into her shoulder. "Akane? Akane, what do you mean by they?"

She answered him with a light snore. _Damnit._


	15. Not My Birthday

**_A/N: Hi friends! I have been stupid busy at work, so I'm sorry this one is so short, but I'm hoping it can tide you over until I can get a chance to sit down and hash out some more of this story. It's cute, so I hope it makes you smile. ~R3d_**

It had been a long day in the office. An early morning hue alert at a local coffee shop had Division One filing paperwork by two in the afternoon. Seven people had been elevated above regulation by the incident, so several reports had to be filed before the team could clock out for the weekend. Somehow they'd lucked out and scored two off days in a row for the whole team thanks to Division Three finally filling out their personnel. With all the employee shuffling, Tsubame wasn't sure she'd ever be able to remember everyone's name. She hoped that she'd at least be able to socialize properly with the other Enforcers as she and the rest of the Division One Enforcers retired to their suite for the evening. Tsubame stole a smile to herself as Ginoza reached the apartment door, Hinakawa having sent a message ahead of them. Yayoi winked at Tsubame as the door slid open to the blackened apartment, the automatic function on the lights having been disabled.

"What the Hell?" Ginoza grumbled, stepping inside to reach for the control panel. It was then that the lights flashed on and a group of people jumped out from behind the kitchen island to shout, "surprise!" at the unsuspecting party pooper. Ginoza instinctively moved to shield the woman directly behind him from the assault before straightening himself out. Tsubame could tell by the immediate scowl that Ginoza was not amused in the slightest, so she slipped her hand into his from behind him, earning the tiniest of squeezes from his fingers.

"Happy birthday Ginoza!" Sugo called from across the kitchen, two pilsner glasses gripped in his hands. He crossed the room to offer one to Gino.

"It's not my birthday," Gino grumped, pulling up the calendar on his holoscreen.

"Not exactly," Sugo shrugged, "but Division Two won't have the same days off as Division One for another five weeks, so we figured we might as well capitalize on it," he smiled as he winked to Tsubame.

"You were in on this?" Ginoza accused, shock wiping his face of all other emotion.

"It was only my idea," Tsubame shrugged. "Yayoi and Sho did everything."

He cast a dark glance behind her at the other two guilty-as-sin Enforcers, who only rolled their eyes at his hollow threat.

"C'mon, Gino," came Shion's voice from behind him, "it's been approximately forever and a half since I've seen you wasted, and what better excuse than your birthday?!" She handed him a tiny glass full of a clear liquid. When he hesitated, she sighed. "Don't worry, we convinced Akane to come supervise…"

At that the Inspector shuffled from around the corner to stand next to them.

"I thought you went home?"

"And miss this?" Akane giggled. "No way!"

"Traitor…" he mumbled.

"Stick in the mud," she countered, elbowing him. "It's not like you've got to work tomorrow, and I'll make sure everyone gets back to where they need to go safely. No passing out in the hallway, Sugo!"

"It was one time!" he defended.

"Four times," Ginoza and Shion corrected in unison.

"Clearly you're too sober if you remember that," Sugo laughed, shoving the proffered pilsner toward Ginoza.

"Uh-uh, shot first. Do not chase ale with vodka," Shion insisted.

"You guys are the bad influences SYBIL warns teenagers about in health class." With that, Ginoza took the shot glass from Shion's hand, downed it, and snatched the pilsner.

"That was easier that I expected," Yayoi smiled as she slid past Gino into the room. Hinakawa followed and the door shut firmly behind them. Someone activated the holo-squid and it began flitting around taking drink orders and materializing food on the counter top. The Enforcers began to disperse around the room, a small group of them setting up a holo-card game at the coffee table.

"Would you like a drink, Ms. Maekawa?" the holo chirped, hovering in front of her. Uncertain, she looked to Ginoza.

"Midori Sour," Gino ordered for her. As the drink materialized in front of her, Tsubame took it carefully. "Don't feel pressured to drink if you don't want to," Ginoza warned her. "If you don't like it or don't want to finish it, you can just come give it to me."

She nodded with a shy smile before taking a sip of the electric green cocktail in her hands. The sweetness of it surprised her, and the miniscule burn she felt as it slipped past her tongue was a welcome sensation. She felt a strange heat rise to her cheeks.

"Good?" he smiled.

"Delicious!"

"They're deceptively sweet, so go slow," he laughed. Taking her hand, he allowed himself to relax and take in the room. His friends chatted and bantered with each other everywhere he looked as he pulled Maekawa further into the apartment. He introduced her to the other three Division Two Enforcers who invited them to join in the drinking game they'd begun on the coffee table. Tsubame had never played drinking games.

As the cards were dealt and drinks passed around, it was decided that Tsubame was not very good at said drinking games, and was even worse at remaining upright while losing at them. She slid ungracefully from the arm of the chair she was perched on into Ginoza's lap at a point he'd admit he couldn't remember. It dawned on him that she'd somehow ended up there when she laughed at a joke Sugo made and she spilled a small splash of her drink on the front of his shirt.

"Shit, sorry!" she giggled, placing her glass on the table carefully next to the cards.

"It's fine, it's fine," he insisted, but she struggled to stand up anyway to retrieve a towel from the linen closet. It was after she'd stepped away that Shion leaned down next to his ear from behind the chair.

"When did doe-eyes get so touchy?" she whispered.

"What?" Ginoza scoffed, glancing up at her. She was hardly able to contain the amusement on her face.

"Don't play dumb," Shion smirked over her glass of wine. "When?"

"When what?" Ginoza asked, confused.

"I can't believe you hooked up with her and didn't _tell me!" _she whined, just loud enough for Sugo to notice from the next couch.

"You what?" His eyebrows shot up. "Damn, Ginoza, I knew you liked her but I didn't think you'd move that fast on someone so clearly terrified of, well, everything."

"Asshole," Gino grumbled. He sighed and turned back to Shion. "We haven't done anything like that," he assured. "And frankly, it's none of your business anyway. It's complicated. You know where she's coming from," he added, dropping his voice so that only Karanamori could hear him.

"That's the reason I was so surprised, honestly," Shion shrugged. "So you're telling me she has been sitting in your lap, draped all over you, barely able to keep her hands to herself for an hour, and you _haven't_ had se…"

"Here you go!" Tsubame sang as she returned with a towel and a second article folded over her arm. Without hesitating, she perched on the arm of the chair and reached down to grab at his tie.

"Tsubame, what are you...?!"

She slapped at his hands.

"I got your shirt all wet so I brought you a new one," she chided. "Duh."

"You don't have to…"

"It was my fault!" she insisted, silencing him. Though her tone remained playful, he sensed that she actually felt pretty bad for spilling her drink on him. Shion giggled behind him and Sugo arched an eyebrow over Tsubame's shoulder. Taking a breath to steady himself, he placed his hand over hers.

"It's fine. I'll get it. Thank you, Mae."

She beamed at his gratitude.

"That's informal," Shion noted as she walked away. Ginoza did his best to keep from rolling his eyes at her. He pulled off the damp button-down and folded it in his lap. Though he still wore a white tank top, he had to smile to himself when Maekawa dropped her eyes away from him to hand him the clean t-shirt she'd retrieved from their room. Once he was completely dressed again, Tsubame grabbed the dirty button-down from his knees, placed it on the floor next to the chair, and slid drunkenly back into his lap, sideways this time so that her feet hung over the arm of the chair.

"Sorry," she apologized again.

"For what?" he reassured her, settling his robotic arm behind her shoulders. "I was getting hot anyway." He kicked himself for saying it like that as Sugo coughed at him.

Mostly convinced that he was okay, Tsubame smiled up at him.

"Are you having fun?" Ginoza asked. She nodded enthusiastically.

"My hair is suffocating though," she admitted. Her long locks hung heavily over her shoulders in the humidity of the somewhat crowded living room. "Will you braid it?"

"Of course," he laughed. She spun in his lap so that she sat facing forward, and he tugged her hair gently into three sections to braid back away from her face. After he'd tied off the hairstyle, she flopped back into her previous position draped sideways over him.

"Thank you," she smiled, taking his human hand in both of hers. He happened to notice that the Division Two Enforcers had migrated to the kitchen where they were refilling their drinks. With the sudden privacy, he let her press her fingers into the spaces between his. He was surprised when she placed a small kiss over the back of his hand. He let his mind go blank for a few moments as she drew patterns with her thumb in his palm. He didn't initially notice that when she shifted her weight in his lap it was intentionally to get closer to his face. "You smell nice," she sighed into his neck.

"You do too," he admitted, allowing her to rest her head against his shoulder. She pulled herself up so that she was upright next to him, her legs still resting across his lap, her fingers finding their way into his hair. He closed his eyes, enjoying her touch.

Then she pressed her mouth against his, tentatively at first, but with growing insistence. His first thought was erased entirely by his surprise, but his second was to kiss her back, his arms wrapping around her waist and back to pull her closer. His third had something to do with the cheering from the kitchen but he could deal with that later. She caught his bottom lip lightly between her lips in order to swipe the tip of her tongue experimentally across it. Though every inch of him wanted to feel every inch of her, his mind, albeit a bit hazy under the alcohol, dragged him out of the trance he'd begun to lose himself in. She tried to follow him backwards, but he brought his hand to her cheek to stop her, a smile plastered across his face.

"Tsubame, there are people watching," he whispered.

"Hmmm… don't care," she mumbled.

"Yes you do," he chuckled. "You're just drunk."

"What's your point?" She grinned up at him, a sparkle of mischief he'd never seen before alight in her features.

"My point is if you weren't, this wouldn't be happening and I don't want you to regret it tomorrow," he tried to reason.

"Why would I regret making out with you on your birthday? Don't you want me to make out with you on your birthday?" She let her head return to its place on his shoulder, her breath hot against his neck. He shivered.

"It's not my birthday," he corrected, poking the tip of her nose, "and of course I do," he assured her, trying to quiet the pounding in his chest. "But only if you want to."

"Well good then," she breathed before pressing her lips into his neck, causing his breath to catch. She began exploring his skin carefully, nuzzling insistently against him. His shoulder bounced under her chin as he laughed.

"You sound sleepy," he suggested.

"No I'm not," she yawned.

"Sure you aren't." He debated letting her fall asleep in the chair and just carrying her to bed, but figured he'd never want to get up with her curled up in his lap, so he lifted her chin to make half-lidded eye contact with her. "Let's get you to bed."

She scowled in protest, but didn't have the strength to keep him seated, though she did try.

"I think we're going to turn in," Ginoza called to Akane who was busy dealing a game for the others at the counter. It was then that he realized that Yayoi and Shion had disappeared. Tsubame leaned heavily against him as he moved her toward the hallway. One of the Enforcers at the high-top passed a glass of water to him. "Thank you for hanging out with me on my almost-birthday," he smiled, addressing the rest of them. Hinakawa smiled and waved across the counter to him. Sugo winked at him, eliciting an unhindered eyeroll. He helped Tsubame down the hall. Halfway there she began tugging at her shirt.

"Tsubame you aren't in the room yet," he laughed, grabbing her hands. She took the opportunity to lean up to peck him on the cheek.

"You're cute when you're flustered," she observed, holding herself up in the doorway.

"Come on," he sighed, still smiling. The door closed and she stepped forward to hold onto him.

"Can we kiss some more?" she almost begged.

"Just a little," he promised. "You really should get some rest." He walked her over to her side of the bed and sat her down, placing the glass of water on her bedside table. She pulled him back over to her and placed her hands on his hips. A thoughtful expression crossed her face before she tucked the tips of her fingers under the hem of his shirt, making him jump.

"Ticklish," he explained breathlessly.

"S-sorry."

At her stutter, his brow furrowed with concern.

"Are you okay?" His voice was gentle.

The conflict in her features made his heart hurt.

"I just… I w-want to… But…"

He dropped to his knees in front of her.

"Hey, it's alright. You don't have to do anything for me. I've had a lot of fun with you already." He smiled up at her but she looked away.

"I was having fun too, which is why I didn't want to stop, but…"

"But nothing," he stopped her. "Whatever you want is fine by me. Promise."

She met his eyes.

"Why don't we get some rest and talk about this in the morning?"

Disappointment, but also relief, weighed her shoulders down. He stood, kissing the top of her head before returning to his side of the bed, stepping out of his slacks and grabbing his gym shorts from the floor. When he took his place in the bed and rolled over he didn't expect for his hand to find skin instead of pillowcase. Tsubame lay facing him in the spot where she normally set her barrier.

"I'm cold," she whimpered, the apparent sobriety from moments before lost to the alcohol still metabolizing in her body.

"Roll over," he sighed, a small smile coming back to his features. When she did, he fit himself gently into the contours of her body, tucking his robotic arm under his pillow as his human hand came to rest carefully on her hip. "Okay?"

In response she cuddled back into him, pulling his arm further over her torso so that she could hug it to her chest. It occurred to him that before the mechanical arm, sleeping like this would probably cut off circulation to his left hand. He breathed in her scent, pressing his lips to her hair.

"Sugo and Karanamori thought we were sleeping together," Tsubame observed.

"They did," Gino confirmed.

"You told them we aren't?"

"I told them it was none of their business, and that even if we do, they won't be getting a postcard about it. It wouldn't concern anyone other than you and me." He tugged her closer to emphasize his point.

"So it doesn't bother you?"

"What? That my friends are jackasses?" he chuckled, earning a giggle from her.

"No, that we haven't… That I… That I can't…"

"Tsubame," he stopped her, closing his eyes. "I could spend the rest of my life right here, just like this, fully clothed and celibate, and be the happiest man alive. Don't get me wrong, I would love that too, but only on terms you can agree with. I don't want it to be just for me. It needs to be for both of us. Even if you're never ready, I will still love you."

She stiffened under his arm.

"You… what?"

It finally dawned on him what he'd just done, but he couldn't retract a statement so true. It wasn't hard. It wasn't forced. It felt as natural as breathing. Of course he loved this woman. She made him smile when he thought he'd never smile again. Her scent intoxicated him in a way he couldn't possibly obtain from alcohol. He got so lost in her voice that he hoped he'd never be found again. She'd stopped the nightmares and replaced them with dreams so vivid, they were more real than the blood stains on his father's jacket; more real than the Spinel smoke on Akane's breath. He had somehow survived the last few years of torment only to find that until now he'd forgotten how to _live_. And now that she'd reminded him, he was never going back without her.

"I love you," he repeated. "More than anyone I've ever known."


End file.
